Heart of A Cheater
by Atemu's Queen
Summary: Even though they've been dating and have agreed not to see other people, one of them can't help himself. Someone will get hurt. The questions are who and why? Jou x Ryo B - Story Under ReWrite.
1. The Great Big Tickling Fest

**Cheaters Heart.**

**Part 1:**

**Chapter One: The Great Big Tickling Fest**

These ideas occurred to me while listening to the following songs: "I Still Believe In You" by Vince Gill, "My Broken Heart" by Reba McEntire, and "Streets of Heaven" I think by Chely Wright or Sara Evans. I guess you could say they inspired me. Please forgive me for any mistakes that you find. The computer that I'm currently using doesn't want to let me edit any of my work or even re-type my profile. All I can say is I did the best I could. So if there's no summary or a very short one for this or any of my other work you know why: Computers fault! Anyway...

**Disclaimer:** Don't own "Yu-Gi-Oh!" No one on this web site does! We all know that! Let's move on shall we?

**Chapter 1:** Just a little fun and mush between Joey and his partner, Ryou. Maybe a bit of lovin'. If you don't like that sort of thing, don't read. But if you like 'love' and 'feathers', then by all means, go ahead, read and enjoy yourself. All coments welcome as long as they're good.

Normally I refer to Ryou as Bakura and the evil spirit of the Ring as Yami-Bakura or Y.B. But for you, the reader and reviewer, I'm going to refer to Ryou as Ryou and Yami-Bakura will be Y.B. Hopefully you'll R&R this story, unlike you have my other two which no one seems to notice...

It was a fresh, new day in the city of Domino. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and children were playing tag in the street. KABOOM! Roar... O.k., not really. It fact, it was a down right miserable day. Not just because the sun wasn't shining, the birds weren't singing, and there weren't any children playing in the street, but because it was Monday, a school day, and it was raining. "Stupid rain," Joey mumbled, leaning against the rain. "well, at least it's not raining on a Saturday or I'd be really annoyed."

At that moment, Ryou came out of the bathroom that was connected to the room he and Joey shared. He was trying to adjust the new belt Joey had given him the day before as a just because present. "What are you mumbling about over there, Joey?" he asked, as he tried to get the belt to go through one of the loops on his white dress pants. "Ah, nothing," Joey grumbled, turning his back to the window and walking towards Ryou. "I just wish this damn rain would stop." "Well then, if that's all, could you help me?"

Joey looked down at Ryou, who's zipper was still undone. Then he glanced at the clock on their nightstand. "Yeah, sure." he said bending down to help Ryou with the belt. "But why are you getting dressed now?" Ryou looked at him strangely. "Huh?" he asked, cocking his head to the left. "What do you mean? It's Monday. I'm getting dressed for school..." Ryou stopped, looking at Joey standing there in his blue house coat. "Joey, you aren't dressed? You'd better hurry or you're going to be late for school." he paused for a moment, then said, "Unless you're not going." Joey looked at Ryou and laughed.

Ryou just looked at Joey confussed. "Of course, I intend on going to school. I always do. But I don't intend to go any earlier than I have to." "Huh?" Ryou asked again, still feeling slightly confussed. Joey couldn't help but laugh. Ryou looked so cute with his fly open and that confussed looked on his face. "Ryou, look at the clock. It's only 5:30 in the morning!" "Wha.." Ryou swung his head around so that he could see the clock behind him and saw for himself that the clock did indeed read 5:30... A. M.!

The surprised expression on his face made Joey laugh even harder. "5:30...A M?" he asked himself. "That's all it is? Just 5:30? I thought it was later than that, but just looked dark because of..." he turned around to see Joey nearly on the floor with laughter. "...the...rain." He narrowed his sparkling green eyes at Joey and folded his arms. "Joey! Are you trying to trick me? Again?" Joey tried to cover the smile that stretched across his face. "No." he said innocently. "Oh, Joey. You'd better not be. You know how I hate being late to school." Joey forced himself to calm down a little.

"No, honestly, Ryou. I'm not messing with ya. It really is 5:30 in da morning. You can check all the clocks in the house if you want. They'll all say da same thing." Ryou left the bedroom and checked every clock in the house. "See? I told ya. I told ya they'd all say da same thing and that I wasn't messing with ya. There, now. Do ya believe me?" Ryou sighed. "Yeah, I believe you." "Good." Joey said putting an arm over Ryou's shoulder. "So whaddya wanna do now until it is time for school?" "Well, I don't know." said Ryou thinking. "I already went to the bathroom. I'm not really hungry..."

"Ya wanna go back to bed?" "I-I guess." Before Ryou could say another word, Joey scooped him in his arms and carried him all the way back to the bed. When they got back to the bedroom, Joey dropped Ryou onto the bed. "Thanks." Ryou said sarcastically propping himself up on his elbows. "Oh, you're welcome." said Joey as he striped out of his house coat and tossed it to the floor. "What are doing..." Ryou started to ask him. Then suddenly, Joey pounced on him. "AAhhhhh!" Ryou screamed surprised. "GOTCHYA!" he yelled.

"Uh! Joey! Get up!" said Ryou, trying to push Joey off of him. "Why?" Joey asked playing with the piece of white hair that always hung right between Ryou's eyes. "Well, because you're naked." "So?" Joey smiled. "I thought you liked it when I was in this position." "Well, yeah, but you're..." Ryou stopped, he had a thought. He looked up at Joey and smiled. "..are you gaining weight?" "Huh!" exclaimed Joey. Ryou giggled. "Why you! O.k. That's it!" Joey grabbed Ryou's sides. "Tickle fest!" "Heh, ha, n-no! No, no! Oh, come on Joey! Aha, ha! Come on! No! Stop it! Ah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Nobody insults my weight, pal and lives to tell about it!" "No, Joey!" Ryou giggled playfully. "Please! I can't take anymore!" "Too bad." Joey smirked. "You shoulda thought of that before you insulted my weight. Now you're gonna get it!" "No, Joey!" Ryou laughed playfully. "No more!" Joey tickled Ryou some more. "Tickle, tickle, tickle!" "N-no, no Joey!" Ryou laughed louder. "Surrender and admit defeat!" Joey yelled. "NO!" Ryou yelled back at him. "Never!" "O.k." Joey smiled. "But now you're really gonna get it!" Joey hopped up off the bed.

"G-get what?" Ryou asked feeling a little nervous. "You'll see." Joey stood in front of the nightstand, pulled out the top drawer, and fumbled around for a minute. "Ah-ha! Found it." "Found what?" Ryou asked nervously. "I told ya, you'll see." Then Joey had another idea. He went over to the walk in closet and pulled a box off the top shelf. 'Nice ass.' Ryou thought, watching Joey go through the box. Joey's fingers ran across something cold and silver. 'Ah-ha! There they are. Now Ryou's gonna get it. Heee!' Joey smirked to himself and turned around.

"What are you hiding back there?" Ryou asked curiously. "Nothin'." Ryou looked at him suspiciously. "Hmmm." "Lay back down," Joey smiled. "and close your eyes." "But, Jo-" "Just do it." said Joey inpatiently. "O.k." Ryou said laying down. 'Hee, hee, hee! This is gonna be good! Ryou'll never suspect what I'm up to. Hee, hee, hee.' Joey went back over to the bed and crawled on top of Ryou. Then he took Ryou's hands. "Joey, what are-" "Shh." Joey shushed him. Ryou could hear chains clinking above his head.

'He wouldn't.' Ryou thought to himself as he felt something cold slide around his wrists. 'He didn't...' "O.k. You can open your eyes now." Ryou did and looked above his head. "You hand cuffed me!" "Yes, I did. Now ya can't get away while I'm torturing ya with-" "Joey," Ryou said seriously. "you're not really going to torture me, are you?" Joey saw that Ryou's lower lip had begun quivering and he looked like he was about to get tears in his eyes. Then Joey had realized his mistake.

This is the sort of thing Yami-Bakura used to do him when he 'misbehaved', a.k.a. not doing what Y.B. wanted him to do. "Joey, if you're really that upset about my comment about your weight, I take it back and I promise not to mention it-" Joey cut him off. "-again." he whispered. "Look, Ryou. When we hooked up, I promised not to ever hurt ya like that. No matter how mad I might get at ya. Remember?" Ryou looked at Joey and nodded. "Besides, you know I love ya. I tell ya that all the time, don't I?" "Y-yes, Joey."

"So how could you think that I'd hurt ya like that?" Joey asked Ryou, feeling a little hurt himself that Ryou would even think that of him. "I-I guess," Ryou said quietly, looking away. "I,

I don't know." He closed his eyes and looked away. "I'm sorry, Joey." Ryou said sadly. "Look, Ryou," Joey said leaning over him so that they were face to face. "I promised ya that I'd never ever physically or sexually abuse ya and I intend to keep that promise." "I guess." Ryou said, still feeling a little guilty that he thought Joey had intended on actually torturing him.

"Hey," Joey said, lifting Ryou's chin so that he and Ryou would be eye-to-eye. "I meant what I said. I don't intend on breaking my promise. Trust me, o.k.?" Ryou looked away, feeling a little sheepish, then back at Joey. "O.k." he smiled. "Alright then...let's get to the 'good' torture." "But there's no such thing as good torture." Ryou told him. "Oh, but there is, my dear Ryou. And now, you get to experience it for youself." Joey got up off of Ryou and sat down by his feet. "Huh?" Ryou asked, cocking his head.

'Damn, he's cute when he does that. Makes me wanna kiss him. Hmmm. Later.' Joey pulled Ryou's socks off of him and began tickling his feet with a huge, white...FEATHER! "Wha...!" Ryou exclaimed. "You're t-tick-tickling giggle me giggle, giggle with a giggle, gigglefeather!" "Uh-huh." Joey said running the feather beneath Ryou's toes on his right foot. "Y-you meant THAT was how you were planning on torturing me?" "Uh-huh." Joey replied. "With a feather?" Ryou asked in disbelief. "Uh-huh." "Is that giggle, giggle all you can giggle say?"

"Uh-huh." "Oh, Joey!" Ryou exclaimed exasperatedly letting his head fall down against the pillow. Now he felt even sillier than he already had. 'A feather!' Ryou thought to himself. 'All he planned on doing, was tickling me with a feather...and I thought he was really going to hurt me?Ooooh! Now I feel really silly. I should've known Joey'd never break his promise. He's not like that.' Ryou laughed inwardly towards himself. 'How silly of me to think that! Joey probably thinks that too now. Oooh! If I could move my hands away from the headboard, I'd smack myself. Oooh.'

'How could he think I'd hurt him?' Joey wondered feeling slightly offended. 'I promised him I'd never harm him that way.' Joey ran the feather under Ryou's other toes. 'Damn it!' he cursed. 'This is all Yami-Bakura's fault! If he hadn't abused Ryou, he never would of reacted the way that he did. Damn him! If Yami hadn't made him leave town...ah, well. I'm glad that he did. With Y.B. outta the way, I can have Ryou.' Joey looked at the clock. 'It's only 6:25am now...there's still time before school starts...and I'm to wound up to sleep...I wonder if Ryou would mind if I did have him...'

Joey put down the feather, leaned forward, and..."Joey!" Ryou gasped in surprised. "Ya don't mind, do ya?" Joey asked, hoping Ryou wouldn't. "Well, actually, no...it did feel good..." "So I can continue right? I have your permission?" Joey waited for an answer. "Yes, on one condition." "What's that?" "That you remove these ridiculous cuffs so that I can move my hands." Joey smirked at Ryou. "Uhmmm. Nah. I don't think so." "JOEY!" "O.k. I was just kidding." "Thank you." Ryou said sarcastically. "Uh, let's see...where'd I put that key?"

"Joey," Ryou said growing annoyed. "don't tell me you lost the key." "Uhm, well, actually..." "Joey..." Ryou said warningly. "I did." "Oh, Joey! Great! This is just great!" "Oh, calm down." said Joey leaning over Ryou. "Here." Joey clicked the little switches on the handcuffs and released Ryou's hands. "Is that better?" "Much." Ryou said rubbing his wrists a little. "But now, it's your turn to get it." "Wha-" Joey started to ask. But Ryou didn't give Joey a chance to finish. He tackled him. "Ahhh!" said Joey. "Help! The creature from the 'white' lagoon caught me!

"Somebody help me before he turns my hair all white." Ryou glared at Joey. "Ha-ha." he said and began tickling Joey. Joey started laughing. Ryou grabbed the feather. "Now it's my turn to torture you. After all, fair-is-fair. Or so says a certain Yami...I know...of. Any last words?" he asked Joey sitting on his stomach and waving the feather at Joey's nose. "Yeah." Joey said smuggly. "You haven't won yet." He wrapped his arms around Ryou and rolled over. "You haven't won yet, Ryou Bakura! Haaa!" "Whoa!" Ryou screamed as he landed on his back.

Now Joey was on top of him again. "Hey!" Ryou protested. "No fair!" "Of course it is." Joey smiled. "All is fair in love, and war, and doughnuts. Or so says a certain Yami I know of." he said mimicking what Ryou had just said a moment ago. "Oh, yeah?" Ryou asked Joey. "Yeah." Joey said. "Yeah? We'll see about that." Ryou tried to roll Joey over the same way Joey had rolled him over. But it didn't work. Joey thought Ryou's attempt to do so was cute thought. "Aw, poor little Ryou. You need to get some muscle. I guess I need to start taking you to the gym."

"Joey?" Ryou asked him. "Yeah?" Joey smiled. "You wanna make love?" "Yeah, o.k." Ryou giggled and wrapped his arms around Joey, who had started kissing his neck. "Mmm." Ryou sighed, smiling and pulling Joey closer. 'Yes. Joey loves me. He'd never break his promise. He'd never hurt me. Not in any way. Not ever.' 'Man, I love this kid.' Joey smiled as he nibble Ryou's neck up and down. 'Best of all, he's all mine and I don't have to share him. Mmm.' Then the two of them proceeded to make love...

**End of Part 1, Chapter 1.**

Well, that's all for now. But I'll be working on a Chapter two soon. Now that you've read it, please review and let me know how you liked it. In case you're wondering why I put those two together, they're one of my favorite pairings. Other pairings I like are:

Marik/Yami-Bakura, Marik/Ryou, Yugi/Yami, Seto/Yami, and sometimes, just to 'erk' Joey, Serenity/Yami-Bakura.

**Please review so I don't have to send one to myself !**


	2. Preparing For School

**Cheaters Heart.****  
** **Part 1:  
** **Chapter Two: Preparing For School.**

Yay! Since somebody, besides family, liked my story, I am most certainly going to continue.  
It's always encouraging when you get a review, especially a GOOD review, but kinda  
depressing when you only get 1 and it's one you sent to yourself. So thank you very much for  
the reviews. Here's a treat...**  
**

As I've said before, I normally refer to Ryou as Bakura and the evil spirit of the Ring as Yami-Bakura or Y.B. But for you, the reader and reviewer, I'm going to refer to Ryou as Ryou and Yami-Bakura will be Y.B. "Yami" means Yami-Yugi and I might refer to Yugi as Lil'Y.

Also, please excuse any mistakes you find in this chapter. For some reason, I can't retype my "Profile" or use the "Quick-Edit" on So if you find any bloops, go ahead and laugh. That's what I do. And if anyone could tell me what "shounen-ai" or other words like that mean, please tell me. I'd really like to know. Thanks. O.k. Time for the "disclaimer" and "summary".

**Disclaimer:** Again, don't own "Yu-Gi-Oh!" No one on this web site does! We all know that! Let's move on shall we? Why do we have to put that in all the chapters? Isn't saying it in chapter 1 enough?

**Summary:** Last chapter, Joey ended up making love to Ryou after having tickled him with a big, white feather. Now it's time to get to get to school...yeee...next chapter will be better...

**...Divider Thingy...**

**Joey and Ryou have just finished making love...**

'Man, that was great.' Joey thought to himself as he held Ryou close against his chest. 'And what makes it even sweeter, is that he loves me. Hee.' Joey smiled inwardly. 'After the way Yami-Bakura treated him, it's a wonder he even let me get near him. Especially in a sexual way. But I'm glad he did. Now I can have him whenever I want...uhh...with his permission of course. After all, I promised I'd never force him...and I intend to keep that promise.

Besides,' Joey frowned. 'If I ever broke that promise...not that anything would ever make me...Yami'd kick my ass. Sometimes I think he forgets that he isn't Pharaoh anymore. I mean really, whenever I screw up, he shows up trying to act like my dad. Well, not exactly like my dad. Yami'd never throw beer bottles at my head...unless I did something really wrong... like hurt Yugi...but still...What right does he have to kick my ass when I screw up? He isn't my father, and he isn't Pharaoh...' "Mmm. Joey?" a voice interupted his thoughts. It was Ryou.

Joey snuggled his partner. "Yeah?" he asked looking down into his lovers beautiful green eyes. "Is it time for school?" 'School?' Joey thought. 'We just finished making love, and all he can think about is going to school? How could he?' Out loud, Joey said, "Ryou, we just made love." Ryou smiled up at him. "I know that." "So how can your mind be on school when it should be on me?" "Oh, Joey." Ryou said turning onto his right side so that he could see the clock. "My mind was on you the entire time we were making love. Actually, I forgot all about school until just now."

As an after thought, he added, "And it's all your fault for being so sexy." Then Ryou picked up the clock. "AHhhh!" he yelled. "IT'S QUARTER TO NINE!" Ryou plopped the clock back down on the nightstand and jumped out of bed. "Ryou-" "We're late! We're so late! Now we're going to get into so much trouble. We're going to get detention!" Joey propped himself up on his elbows. "Would you calm down? It's not like we've never been late before." "Well, yeah, I know," said Ryou pulling on his white dress pants for the second time that day. 

"But I have to be there." Joey looked at him. "Why?" he asked slowly. "Because," said Ryou fastening his belt. "I have a test to make up for because of the last time you made me late." Ryou grabbed a shirt from his closet and pulled it over his head. Joey decided to take this moment to have a little fun. "Hey, Ryou," he said. "Yeah?" Ryou asked. "You said you had to make up for that test. Did ya happen to study for it last night?" "Of course I did." said Ryou brushing out his snow white hair. "Are you sure?" "Of course I'm sure."

"Ryou," Joey smirked. "You didn't study last night, that was the Friday. Last night, we were at the arcade." "We were?" Ryou asked putting down the brush. "I thought that was Saturday..." He sat back down on the bed next to Joey. "Nope." Joey smiled, putting his hands on Ryou's shoulders. "I can't go to school now." Ryou said sounding almost sad. "I didn't study. How can I retake a test...if I didn't study?" "That's easy," said Joey kissing Ryou on his cheek. "cheat." "I can't cheat! I've never cheated!" "It's not that bad. I've done it before."

"Yes, I know. Off of me." Ryou stood and went back over to the brush he had left on the dresser. "And you got in trouble for it." "So I had detention for a week. It wasn't that big a deal. At least in there you don't have to sit and listen to the teacher drone on and on about dead war people and stupid presidents." Ryou sighed and finished brushing his hair. "Whatever." he said looking himself over in the mirror. As he did so, his mind began to wander to the night before...

**  
...Divider Thingy...**

From Me: 'snow white'...the color of Ryou's hair and the name of a Princess. What a cool double meaning...Chapter 2 started getting kinda long, so I decided to end it here and continue with it as chapter three. So for now, please R&R this chapter. Chapter 3 will be finished soon.

I've also put up some Haiku's, poems, written from the perspectives of Ryou and friends. Two chapters up for that if you wanna check them out. Both by Ryou so far. Hopefully, in the next  
chapter or two of that one I'll get a Yami-Bakura one in there. The title is "Ryku's". Don't forget to check it out and R&R. Thanks. -Pharaoh's Queen.


	3. The Flashback

**Part 1:  
** **Chapter Three: The Flashback.**

O.k., by now we all know I still have been unable to retype my "Profile", wah, or use the "Quick-Edit" on Stuff didn't want to upload right either. So I had to reload the  
same chapter three times. Grrrr! So if you notice any 'bloops', laugh. If they're underlined, it means I caught them, but left them there for your amusement. Heeee! Hope ya don't mind that.

I'm still trying to figure out what words like "yaio" and stuff means. I know what "Bishoujo", "Gakuen Genre" and "Shoujo" mean. 'Bishoujo' means, "young, pretty girl", 'Gakuen Genre' means, "school life genre", and 'Shoujo' means, "young girl". They were on the inside front cover of a book I bought called "How To Draw Anime & Game Characters Vol. 1. Basics for Beginners and Beyond." (Yes! I love drawing! Someday I want create my own comics! But anyway, if you know any of those other words, you know what to do.)But let's get on with it shall we? You wanna read the story not this stuff. To my R's&R's: Thank youuu!

**Disclaimer:** O.k. We all know none of us own "Yu-Gi-Oh!" But if we did...

**Summary:** Ryou's having a flashback of the previous night, Sunday, while brushing his hair. That's pretty much it for this chapter. Next chapter takes place at school and Yugi'll probably show up in that. Maybe Yami...hmm...me love Yami...sometimes... Chapter four will be good.

**...Divider Thingy...**  
****

Flashback:

Joey had gone out and told Ryou that he'd be home late. He grabbed his coat, his wallet, and headed out the doo. (ha-ha. I meant 'door'.) "Bye, Joey." Ryou said kissing Joey on the cheek. "What time will be back?" "Oh," Joey slipped on his shoes. "Probably around midnight." "You know you shouldn't stay out so late." "Ah, don't worry about it Ryou. It's not like there's any vampires out there that's gonna get me." "No, I didn't mean that. I mean it's a school night. We have school tomorrow."

"Ryou, for once, get your head outta school. Go focus on something else." Joey opened the door. "Besides, it's still the weekend until midnight. Don't worry." Ryou smiled. Sometimes he loved how Joey took things all in stride like that. "O.k." he said giving Joey another kiss. "But could you at least tell me where you're going?" "Nope. Sorry. It's a secret." "But why?" Ryou wanted know. "Just because." "Because why?" "Because," Joey said kissing Ryou on the tip of his nose. "I said and it's none of your business."

"Oh." said Ryou feeling a little hurt. "I was just wondered in case something came up..." "Look, if something comes up, call Yami.Ya know he'd be happy to help ya." Ryou looked at his feet, still feeling a little hurt. But obviously, Joey hadn't noticed. He put his hands on Ryou's shoulders. "Ryou, you need to relax. Why don't you take a bubble bath or something, o.k?" "Uh, o.k. I'll do that." "Yeah, while you're at it, you could make me some supper too. I might be hungry when I get back in." "O.k. Joey." "Thanks." Joey kissed Ryou on the lips then headed out the door.

Ryou watched Joey disappear around the corner, closed the door, and locked it. "I wonder where he's going..." Ryou walked into the kitchen. "Maybe I should call Yami..." Ryou said eyeing the phone that hung on the wall next to the fridge. Then he shook his head. "N-no. I don't need to have my friends follow my boyfriend around town. I trust him." Ryou bent down, opened the cubboard, and pulled out a kettle. "Besides, Joey'd just get mad if I did that and then he might not talk to me." Ryou filled the kettle with water and placed it on the stove.

Then he got out the box of spaghetti. "I hope Joey doesn't mind having noddles for dinner." Ryou waited until the water started boiling, then added the noodles. "Yup." he said to himself stirring them in boiling water. "Joey loves me and I love him. Therefore, we can trust each other." Ryou looked down at the noodles. "So I guess it's o.k. if he wants to go out and not tell me where. Sometimes I like to go places without him knowing. I mean, just because we're dating, doesn't mean we have to run and tell each other what we're doing all the time.

"If we did, then we'd never have any freedom and we'd probably end up smothering each other. That wouldn't be good for the relationship." Ryou stirred the noodles some more. When he finished, he ate his fill and left the rest for Joey. He had then taken the bubble bath Joey had suggested and afterwards, hit the books...

**End Flashback:**

"Hit the books..." Ryou whispered setting the brush down on the dresser. "JOEY!" he yelled. Joey actually jumped at the sound of Ryou's voice. "You liar! I did _too_ study last night!" Joey clapped his hands together, rolled over onto his back, and laughed. "Ha, ha! I gotchya! Ah-ha, ha!" Ryou growled deep in his throat. "Wheelerrrrrrrrr!" Then he pounced. Joey screamed. Ryou grabbed a pillow and held it over Joey's face. "You little!" he yelled at him. "Ah! Help! I've been attacked by a crazed lunatic with a pillow! Ahhh!" Came a muffled voice from under the pillow.

Ryou removed the pillow from Joeys face. After all, he didn't want to suffocate him. No. He wanted to whack him. Ryou grabbed another pillow and started swating Joey with both of them. "You little stinker..." he snapped at him. "Ya gotta admit," Joey said between laughs, "I gotchya good." Ryou grrrr'ed and continued whacking him with the pillows...

**...Divider Thingy...**

FM (From Me): I don't know, do you think that was a short chapter? Kinda seems that way to me. Oh, well. I enjoyed typing it and hope you enjoyed reading it. Chapter four will be up probably in a day or two. You know what to do. Thanks.


	4. Cheaters Heart Revealed

**Part 1:**  
**Chapter 4: Cheaters Heart Revealed.**

**P. Q. :** OYY! Sorry for the delayed update "Cheaters Heart" fans. I had an outline to this story and misplaced it. Which is why I updated my other stuff until my 'outline' was found. But now that I've found it, I can continue with it. Yay! Thanks for being patient. O.k. I think that's all... so let's get on with it.

**Disclaimer:** Never owned... K. T. '96'.

**Summary:** Joey and Ryou have _finally_ made it to school after having made love and whacking each other with pillows. They get there just in time for lunch. Joey isn't hungry because he pigged out on doughnuts on the way there. But Ryou is. So while he's eating lunch and chatting it up with Yugi, Joey's busy making a new_ special friend_ in the library...

**...Divider Thingy...**

"C'mon, Joey! We're already late!" Ryou called to Joey, who had insisted on stopping at 'John's Bakery' to grab a dozen doughnuts. "I'm comin'! I'm comin'!" Joey hollered out to Ryou, who had begun pacing up and down the sidewalk where he waited. "Just let me pay for my stuff!" Ryou looked up at the sky, shook his head, and sighed. 'Well,' he thought to himself, as he waited for Joey. 'at least it stopped raining. Otherwise, we'd have to walk to school in it.' Ryou shuddered at the thought and pulled his jacket tighter around him.

It wasn't that he hated the rain, he actually liked it, as long it was outside and he was inside. He just hated having to walk in it. Especially if it were cold and windy. "Keep the change." Ryou heard Joey tell the cashier. "Hey, all right!" Ryou heard the cashier say. "A dollar! Thanks!" 'Gee,' Ryou thought, crossing his arms. 'that guy must not get paid very much to be _that_ excited about a dollar.' "You're welcome." He heard Joey reply. Then he heard Joeys footsteps. 'Finally!' he thought, uncrossing his arms. "O.k., Ryou," said Joey, coming out of the bakery with a chocolate glazed doughnut half sticking out of his mouth. "I'm ready."

"It took you long enough." said Ryou sharply, taking off down the sidewalk. "Well," said Joey, taking another bite of doughnut, "I couldn't decide if I wanted two cream sticks, six tiger tales, or three of the jelly filled-" Then he stopped, realizing that Ryou was no longer standing in front of him. "Hey!" Joey exclaimed, looking around. "Where'd he go?" Then he saw him. He was a good 20 feet ahead of Joey and walking at a very fast pace. "Hey!" Joey yelled at him, closing the lid of the doughnut box and tucking it under his arm. "Wait up!"

Ryou wasn't sure why, maybe it was because he had gotten up at 5:30 in the morning and it had been raining, or maybe it was because he was still annoyed with Joey over the handcuffs, or because he had to wait for Joey to come out of the bakery, but he suddenly felt cranky. "Why should I?" Ryou yelled back. "You'll just make me later than I already am!" Joey swallowed a piece of doughnut and glared at him. "You are _so_ damn impatient!" he grumbled, rushing to catch up with him. "Can't you ever think about anything besides school?"

"NO!" Ryou yelled at him. "And that's your problem!" "What?" Joey demanded. Ryou stopped running. "You're jealous because I care more about school than I do you!" Joey stopped running and glared at Ryou. "Why you little..." he said doubling his fists. "I AM NOT jealous! Take that back!" "Yes you are!" shouted Ryou. "If you had your way, I'd stay home in bed with you and wait on you hand and foot! I'd never get to school." "That's not true, you little mutant!" Joey yelled at him through clenched teeth. "Now take it back!"

NO!" Ryou yelled at him. "Because it's the truth! You don't care if I go to school or not! Or if I get bad grades and don't graduate! All you care about is yourself! You don't give a damn about me at all!" "That's not true!" Joey yelled angrily. "If I didn't friggin' care about ya, I wouldn't be datin' ya." Ryou thought about that for a moment, then said, "Oh! Don't talk to me!" and stomped off towards school. "Fine." said Joey, stomping along beside him. "I won't. Just you don't talk to me." Ryou folded his arms and looked at his feet. "Fine, I won't."

"Fine." said Joey, opening his box of doughnuts and stuffing one into his mouth. "And don't expect me to share my doughnuts with you." "Humph!" sneered Ryou. "I don't want any of your doughnuts anyway. I'm not hungry." "Fine." said Joey. "Fine." said Ryou. The two continued to nit-pick each other all the way to school.

**At school...**

_Ringggg! Ringggg!_ 'Yawn!' stretched a boy with spikey, tri-colored hair and violet eyes. "Class was sooo boring today!" he told himself standing up. "I'm glad it's finally over." The boy put his papers in his backback, grabbed his books, and headed out the door to his locker. "Now I can have some lunch."

As he hurried down the crowded hall, he looked around. "Hmm," he said to himself. "I wonder where Joey and Ryou are." The boy shrugged and walked over to his locker. "Oh, well," he told himself, as he did the combination and opened his locker. "I'm sure they're here somewhere." He grabbed his lunch, shut his locker, and headed towards the cafeteria. "Maybe they're already-OOF!" The boy had ran into something big as he was rounding the corner, and fell over backwards. "I'll take what you have in that bag." said the thing the boy had ran into.

The boy looked up. "Uh-oh." he said quietly, scooting away, seeing who it was he had ran into. "This is my lunch now, little boy. If you want it back, you're going to have to pay me." 'GULP!' the boy swallowed. "Uhh, h..h..how much?" he asked. "How ever much you've got." The bully smiled down at him. The boy reach into his pants pocket. "Uhm, well, let's see..." said the boy, pulling out a handful of pennies. _'Don't do it, Yugi.'_ said a voice inside Yugi's head. "Huh?" Yugi asked, looking around. _'Oh, Yami.'_ he said through the link. _'Sometimes I forget you live in there.'_

"Well," said the bully, folding his arms and glaring down at Yugi. "how much money have you got?" "Uhh..." "I see." said the bully. "Then I guess I'll just have to take...ALL OF IT!" The bully started laughing and reach for Yugi's handful of pennies. Yugi backed against the lockers, curled himself into a ball, and closed his eyes. The Millennium Puzzle glowed. The bully covered his eyes with his arm. When the light stopped glowing, there were little black vines crawling out of Yugi's lunch bag up the bullies arm. "Huh?" the bully gasped. "What-what the...? What kind of a trick is this?"

The bully took his right hand and tried pulling the vines off that were crawling towards his neck. Yugi looked up and blinked in surprise. "What kind of friggin' lunch do you eat?" he asked nervously. "Uh, green?" Yugi said with a shrug. The bully dropped the bag and took off running. Yugi watched as he disappeared into the bathroom. "What's with him?" some kid asked one of Yugi's school mates. "I don't know," the other kid replied. "it looked like he was trying to stop something from crawling on him." "I didn't see anything." said the first kid. "Yeah, I know," said the second kid. "I didn't see anything either." 

Then the first kid shrugged. "Oh, well, Tony. Let's get to lunch. I'm hungry." "Yeah, Jason," replied Tony, "me too. Let's go." The two boys took off racing towards the cafeteria. Yugi looked down at the Puzzle, which literally seemed to be beaming with pride. _'Yami,'_ he asked through the link. _'what was that you put in my lunch bag?'_ Yami was silent. _'Yaaaami.'_ Yugi tried again. _'It was nothing Yugi.' _ Yami replied._ 'It was something.' 'Does it matter?'_ Yami asked. _'Well, I guess not.' _Yugi thought._ 'I just wanted to know.'_

Yugi stood up, put his handful of pennies back in his pants pocket, and dusted himself off. _'I guess Yugi would like to eat his lunch...'_ Yami thought to himself, eyeing Yugi's lunch bag from within the Puzzle. _'In which case, I should probably get rid of that shadow monster.'_ Yami directed his thoughts to Yugi's lunch bag. _'Shadow monster, be gone!'_ The shadow monster made a shrill whining sound, and then was gone. Yami then directed his thoughts to Yugi. _'It's alright now, Yugi.'_ he said, sensing Yugi wondering if it were safe to go near his lunch bag or not.

_'The shadow monster is gone. You may eat your lunch now.'_ Yugi picked up his lunch bag, relieved that the shadow monster was gone. _'Thanks, Yami.'_ he said through the link, smiling. _'But you still haven't answered my question. What exactly was that that you put in there?'_ Yami was silent for a moment, then spoke, _'It was Man-Eating Plant.'_ _'Man-Eating_ _Plant?'_ Yugi gasped. _'Yami! You wouldn't of let that plant eat that man, would you_?' Yugi could hear Yami's footsteps as he paced around in the Puzzle. _'Well...'_ said Yami thoughtfully.

_'YAMI!'_ Yugi exclaimed urgently. Then he heard Yami laughing. _'Of course not Yugi. I'm the good one, remember?'_ Yugi giggled. _'Ha, ha. Yeah. I remember.'_ Yugi picked up his backpack that he had dropped when he first bumped into that bully, slung it over his left shoulder, and continued on his way.

When he got there, he saw Joey and Ryou just arriving through the door on the other side. "Hey, guys!" Yugi tried to yell over the noise of the crowded cafeteria, but to no avail. 'Oh, well,' he thought. 'I guess I'll just have to make my way over to them.' Yugi pushed through the crowd saying things like, "Pardon me.", "Excuse me.", "Coming through.", until he was within earshot of Joey and Ryou. "You're the brat." he heard Ryou say to Joey. "No," said Joey. "we've been through this. You're the one that's behaving like a brat."

"Uhm, guys?" said Yugi, slightly tugging on their shirts. "What?" they both yelled, looking down. "Oh," said Ryou, realizing that it was Yugi. "sorry." "Yeah," said Joey. "sorry." Ryou glared at Joey. "No, I'm sorrier than you are." "No you're not." retorted Joey. "Am too." Ryou shot back. "No, you're not." said Joey. "Now be quiet you little ra-" "GUYS!" Yugi yelled, waving his arms at them. "Do you want to eat lunch with me?" Ryou and Joey looked at each other. "Nah, I'm not hungry." said Joey, patting his stomach.

"That's because he stuffed his face with doughnuts on the way over." Ryou smirked at Joey. "But I am." Joey gave Ryou a look. "I thought you said you weren't hungry." Ryou looked back at Joey and smiled. "I wasn't hungry when I said that. But arguing with you gave me an appetite." Ryou took Yugi by the hand. "Come on, Yugi," he said smiling and leading Yugi away from Joey. "Let's go find a table and leave Joey standing there to look dumb." "Uh, but...but..." Before Yugi could say another word, he and Ryou disappeared into the crowd.

"F..fine!" Joey yelled. "Be that way!" Joey turned to leave the cafeteria. 'I love Ryou, really I do,' Joey thought to himself, peering over his shoulder, 'but he's being such a pain today.' Then Joey felt someone bump into him. "Oomph!" said the someone. He turned around to see one of the hottest girls in school standing in front of him. She had dark auburn colored hair with red highlights that swished around her knees, hazel green eyes, and she stood about as tall as Joey. At least with heels on anyway. "Oh, sorry." said Joey. "Did I walk into you?"

The girl looked at him. "Uh, no. Actually, I walked into you, but thanks for the appology anyway." "Uh, yeah," Joey stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "you're welcome." "You know," said the girl, propping her books up by her waist, "you're kinda cute." "I am?" Joey asked blushing. "Yeah, you are." The girl grabbed some other girl who was just arriving for lunch. "Here lacky," she said, shoving her books into the girls arms. "hold these for me and _don't_ lose them." Then she put an arm around Joeys. "My _friend _and I, are going to go someplace a little private and have some fun." 

"Uh, we are?" asked Joey, playing dumb. "Yeah, we are. Let's go." And with that, she pulled Joey off in the direction of the library. 'Hmm,' Joey thought to himself happily, 'maybe today won't be so bad after all.'

**In the library...**

The girl took Joey all the way to the back of the library where hardly anybody went, including the librarians. "Sooo," said Joey slowly. "What kinda fun are we talking?" The girl smiled, put her hands on Joeys face, and pulled him into a deep passionate kiss. "Oh," said Joey, after the girl pulled away. "That kind of fun." "MmHmm." she smiled at him, licking her lips. 'Well,' Joey thought with a smile on his face. 'Ryou's mad at me anyway, so...why not?' Joey wrapped his arms around the girls waist and started kissing her.

The next thing he knew, the girl was on her back on one of the tables, and he was on top of her kissing her. 'Oh, well,' he thought, as his lips brushed against hers, 'it's not like Ryou's gonna know anyway. I'm not gonna tell him.' And with that, Joey continued kissing on her...

**Back in the lunch room...**

Ryou bit into his bologny and tunafish sandwhich that Yugi had bought for him, since he had forgotten the lunch at home he had packed and his wallet. Not that Ryou had really wanted tunafish, he would of preferred chocolate, but since neither Yugi or the cafeteria had any, he made do with the tunafish. "So," said Yugi, taking a sip of his orange juice, "what's going on with you and Joey?" "None of your business." Ryou snapped at him. "O.k. Sorry." said Yugi. "I can take a hint." Ryou put his sandwhich down.

"I'm sorry," he sighed. "it's just that, well, I got up pretty early, and it was raining, and...oh, I don't know. I guess I kinda started a fight with him because I had to stop and wait for him to buy some doughnuts." "Oh." said Yugi. "It's kinda silly, huh, Yugi?" Ryou asked. "I didn't say that." "No," said Ryou, half smiling, "but you're probably thinking that." He was right. Yugi was thinking that. "I guess I should go appologize to him, huh?" "Yeah. I think that'd be a good idea." said Yugi smiling. "Would you like me to come with you?"

"Uh, no, that's o.k. Yugi." said Ryou, standing up. "Thanks for lunch." "You're welcome, Ryou. Anytime." "Thanks Yugi." Ryou grabbed his jacket and headed towards the door. "Later!" Yugi hollered after him. "Yep." Ryou hollered back on his way out. _'Yami,'_ Yugi said through the link. _'I'm glad you and I don't fight over silly things like that.'_ _'Me too, Yugi.'_ said Yami, coming out of the Puzzle and giving Yugi a hug. "Me too." Yugi snuggled into Yami's warm embrace. _'I love you Yami.'_ he said through the link.

_'I love you too, Yugi,'_ Yami lifted Yugi's chin up with his finger, leaned down, and kissed him on his forehead. _'very much.'_ Yugi closed his eyes and sighed. 'Yep.' he thought happily to himself. 'I've got me a good one...' Yugi could feel Yami's warm eyes looking down at him. '...and I'm keeping him...'

**Meanwhile...**

Ryou had tracked Joey down to the library. 'O.k.' Ryou told himself, taking a deep breath. 'I can do this. All I have to do is march in there, see if Joey's in there or not, and if he is, appologize to him. Yeah, I can do that.' Ryou took another deep breath. 'O.k.' he told himself, putting his hands on the library doors. 'Here I go.' Ryou pushed the doors opened and entered. 'Hmmm,' he thought, looking around. 'I wonder if anyone _is_ in here, it seems pretty quiet.' Then he thought he heard giggling. 'Hmm,' he thought, 'that sounded like a girl.'

Ryou followed the sound all the way to the back of the library. As he got closer, the sound got slightly louder. 'Uhmm, maybe I shouldn't interupt.' He thought backing away. 'I mean, whoever that girl is, she sounds like she's enjoying herself. Maybe I'll come back later.' Ryou turned and started walking away, until he heard, "Oh, Joey!" That stopped him. "'Oh, Joey!'?" he whispered. There was only one Joey that attended school at Domino High that he knew of, and that Joey, was Joey Wheeler. Ryou walked over to a shelf and removed some books so he could peek through.

But what he saw next shocked him. He gasped and covered his mouth. "N...no." he whispered to himself, shaking his head. Ryou couldn't believe what he was seeing. There was the man he loved, half dressed, on top of some girl, who was also half dressed, making out. "No, Joey." Ryou said quietly, tears streaming out of his emerald green eyes. "No." Ryou wanted to scream and pull Joey off of her and say, "_NO_! You love _me_, and only _me_! Not her! _Me!_ You don't _need_ anyone else Joey! All you need is _me_! _I'm_ the one who loves you!"

But he couldn't bring himself to do that. So instead, he whiped away as many tears as he could, and took off running. But the faster he whiped them away, the faster more would pour out. 'I can't believe Joey would do this to me!' he sobbed running down the hall. 'I mean, I know we had a fight earlier, but I didn't mean any of it. He didn't have to go and cheat on me, damn it!' Meanwhile, Yugi had been coming down the hall from the other end. "Hey," he told himself. "here comes Ryou. I wonder if he found Joey."

Yugi waited until he was sure Ryou was close enough to hear him. "Hey, Ryou," said Yugi, "how'd it..." But Ryou ran right past him as if he weren't even there. "...go?" he finished. "I guess it didn't." said Yugi sighing. "He and Joey must've had another fight. Maybe I should go find Joey and talk to him." Yugi watched Ryou run out of the school exit and went to find Joey. 

Ryou meanwhile, ran all the way back home crying. He didn't stop until he got to his room. Once there, he dropped everything he was carrying on the floor, and tossed himself down onto his bed, sobbing. "_How?_" he wondered, trying to dry his eyes. "_How_ could Joey _cheat_ on me like this? Is he _that_ angry with me? Why, Joey? Why?" Ryou burried his face in his arms, and spent the rest of the afternoon sobbing.

**...Divider Thingy...**

**P. Q. :** I know this chapter was somewhat long, but I hope it makes up for the delayed update. I actually had a difficult time getting this one started, but I went for a walk and it totally jogged my mind. Hopefully, chapter 5 won't take me so long. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, especially since it took me all day to type, retype, and re'retype it. (Not being able to think can be a very bad thing! Grrrr!) R&R and let me know, please. Thanks.

Also, I've recently updated "Ryku's", in case anyone wants to check them out. There are now 4 chapters to that instead of 2. Chap 5 of that one will be added soon.

.


	5. Gotta Get To Ryou!

**Part 1: Chapter 5: ** **  
** **Gotta Get To Ryou !**

**P. Q. :** Hello, all my faithful reviewers! This was supposed to be the last chapter of Part 1, but it looks like there's going to be one more. Then we're going to start Part 2. Which is going to be much fun for me! If all goes well, Ryou's house will be terrorized, and eventually something's going to happen to Ryou. Oops! Oh, dear, I've said too much! Well, gotta keep my reviewers interested somehow, don't I? I'm not allowed to pass out marijuana anymore...at least not with my probation officer standing right behind me...

**Summary:** Yugi tries unsuccessfully all day to talk to Joey about Ryou. But Joey doesn't listen until Yami comes out and makes him. After hearing what Yugi has to say, Joey takes off to find Ryou, and Yugi and Yami follow him. Meanwhile, Ryou has a flashback of when Bakura had raped him and tried to tell him it was his fault. His saddness then turns into anger and he decides, Joey has to go. So he starts packing Joeys bags.

**Disclaimer:** Never owned... K. T. '96'. 

**...Divider Thingy...**

Yugi walked in the direction that Ryou had just come running in. 'Hey,' Yugi thought. 'this is the direction of the library. That must be where Joey is.' Yugi jogged down the hallway until he stood just outside the library doors where Ryou had been just a few moments ago. Yugi swallowed. What was _he_ going to say to Joey? _'Just say what's in your heart, Yugi.'_ a voice said to him. It was Yami again. _'O.k., Yami.'_ Yugi took a deep breath, and reach for the handle. But just as he was about to open the door, the door opened on it's own. "Ahh!" screamed Yugi, jumping backwards. "Oh, Yuge..." said a voice, "I didn't know you were behind the door." Yugi looked up. It was Joey!

"Oh," Yugi breathed. "that's o.k. Actually, I was just looking for you." "Uhm, you were?" Joey asked, shutting the door behind him. "Why?" "Well, I wanted to talk to you about Ryou..." "Stop right there." said Joey, holding up his hand in the stop sign position. "I don't want to talk about Ryou right now. I'm in a good mood right now and if I talk about him, it'll ruin it. Besides, I've gotta go to the bathroom." "But, Joey. It's really.." "Look, Yuge," said Joey impatiently. "I've gotta go. Guy stuff." With that, Joey booked it down the hall to the nearest bathroom. 'Guy stuff? What _guy_ stuff?' Yugi wondered, putting a finger to his lip. 'I'm a guy.' 

"Hey, Joey!" Yugi yelled, rushing to catch up with him. Joey dodged into a stall and locked the door. 'Puh..lease don't let Yugi follow me in here.' Joey thought, bracing himself against the wall. But then he heard the door open. "Joey?" Yugi asked. "I know you're in here." Yugi peeked under the first two stalls. Not _all_ the way of course. He didn't want to see some kid sitting on a toilet going number two. He wasn't _that_ much of a perv. That's the sort of thing Bakura would do. Being gay of course, he'd only do that to boys. He'd never bother the girls. Although Yugi had to admit, he had peeked at some of Joeys magazines once or twice...on occassion.

"I really need to talk to you." Yugi said, peeking under yet another stall. "It's about Ryou and it's really important." Joeys face had started turning red. He wouldn't be able to keep it in much longer. "Joey, I know you're in here." Yugi said loudly. _'Stall 8, Yugi.'_ Yami told him. _'How do you know Yami?'_ _'Lucky guess.'_ Yami said with a smirk. Yugi sighed. 'Sometimes I think Yami thinks everything's a game.' he thought. Yugi made his way to stall 8. 'Ugh! I can't take it anymore!' Joey thought. 'If I hold it in any longer, I'm gonna explode!' Joey stood in front of the toilet, unzipped his pants, and whipped it out. "Ahhh!" he sighed, petting himself.

"Joey?" said Yugi just outside the stall. "Damn it, Yugi!" Joey cussed. "Go away! I told ya, I had to do _guy _stuff, now beat it!" Yugi backed away, startled. 'Uh, guy stuff?' Yugi wondered. _'Uh, Yugi,'_ said Yami, half smiling and feeling half embarassed. _'what Joey means is, uh...'_ _'What, Yami?'_ _'Uhm, what Joey means is...'_ _'Well, spit it out Yami.'_ _'By guy stuff, he means...'_ Yami gulped. 'I guess there's no _easy_ way to tell him.' Yami thought to himself. 'So I'll just say it.' Yami swallowed. Glad no one could see his face inside the Puzzle. He just hoped no one would walk into the bathroom and see Yugi's. _'Uhm, well, Yugi,'_ said Yami, _'Joey is... ahem. ... masterbating_.'

Yugi blinked at what Yami had said, then he got it. "Ahh, oh!" he exclaimed, face turning beet red. "Heh, heh...that." Yugi walked over to stall 4, went inside, and locked the door. _'In that case,'_ he told Yami. _'I'd better give Joey some, um, privacy.'_ _'Yeah,'_ said Yami, trying to hold back his laughter. _'that'd probably be a good idea.'_ Once Yami was sure Yugi couldn't hear his thoughts, Yami burst out laughing. His little light could be so entertaining sometimes. 'It's a good thing Yugi can't hear me laughing,' Yami thought to himself. 'otherwise, he'd take the Puzzle apart.'

**That day, at the end of school...**

'Finally!' Joey yawned stretching. 'Today's been such a drag. Except for what happened in the library. I'm glad it's over.' Oh, but little did Joey know, it was just starting... "Joey." Yugi said, approaching him before he got the chance to get away. "I really need to talk to you." "Aw, not about _Ryou_ again. Ya know, I don't even _wanna_ hear about Ryou." "But Joey, it's important." countered Yugi. "Look, Yuge," said Joey, leaning over picking up his backpack. "I've got other stuff I've gotta do." "But Joey..." "Later, Yuge, later." Joey started to stand up. Yami narrowed his eyes. 'I don't appreciate you taking that tone with my light.' Yami thought, coming out of the Puzzle and materializing behind Joey.

"Uhh." said Yugi, looking behind Joey. A strong pair of hands appeared on Joeys shoulders and pushed him back down in his seat. "Huh?" he asked, looking behind him. A steady, violet gaze met his eyes. "Yami?" he gasped. He looked back at Yugi. "Did you _have_ to call him out on me?" "Uhm, well actually, Joey, I..." "_Yugi_, did no such thing." said Yami sharply. "_I_ _chose_ to come out on _my_ own." 'Heh, and I thought today was getting better?' Joey thought. "Yugi," said Yami, "sit." Yugi sat. "Joey'd be happy to listen to you. Wouldn't you Joey?" Yami asked, peering down at him with a smirk. Joey folded his arms. "Yeah, I guess."

Not exactly what Yami was going for. He had been hoping that Joey'd appologize to Yugi for giving him the brush off, but it would do...for now. "Go ahead, Yugi." Yami told him. "O.k." said Yugi, looking Joey in the eyes. "Joey, Ryou left here a little while ago.." "Wha..?" Joey asked, uncrossing his arms and sitting up. "What do you mean he left here?" Yugi sighed. "That's what I've been _trying_ to tell you all day." he said exasperatedly. "Ryou felt kinda bad about the fight the two of you had earlier, so he left the lunch room to find you so he could appologize." "He did?" Joey asked surprised. "Yeah. Anyway, lunch was over. So I left to go to class and saw Ryou running up the hallway.

"I tried to ask him how it went with you, if he found you, and he ran right past me with tears in his eyes." "Whoa!" exclaimed Joey, jumping up, almosting knocking Yami over. "What did you say?" "I said, 'he ran right past me'..." "Yeah, yeah, I heard that part." Joey said, brushing Yami off of him. "But did he say what he was so upset about?" 'Please don't say Ryou saw me in the library with Brittany.' Joey prayed. "No, Joey," Yugi sighed. "he was too busy running and crying to stop and talk. He didn't even notice I was there. He just kept running until he reach the exit and I don't know after that. I guess he went home. I assumed you guys had another fight and..."

"HOME!" Joey yelled. "Why that little..." "Joey," said Yami warninly. "calm down..." "After all that fuss he made to me this morning about school? That's it!" Joey exclaimed, grabbing his things. "When I get home, I'm gonna give that Ryou kid a piece of my mind, that he won't ever forget!" Before Yami could stop him, Joey charged out the door. "Think we should follow him?" Yugi asked, concerned. Yami looked at him. "When he's _this_ mad?" Yami asked worriedly, "Probably." Yugi nodded, "Then let's go." he said, running out the door. Yami disappeared back into the Puzzle. After all, there was no reason for _both_ of them to run...

**Meanwhile, at Ryou's house...**

Ryou, who had been crying for what seemed like hours, which it probably was, finally stood up and went into the bathroom to get some tissue. "How could Joey do this to me?" he asked his reflection in the bathroom mirror that hung over the sink. "How? What did I do to deserve this?" Ryou blotted the tears that were still pouring out of his emerald green eyes and grabbed another tissue. "I know we had a fight," he sniffled. "we've had fights before. But...he's never cheated on me...never..." But Ryous mind automatically began to wander back to Sunday night... Joey never _had_ told him where he was going...

**Flashback:**

"Bye, Joey." Ryou said kissing Joey on the cheek. "What time will you be back?" "Oh," Joey slipped on his shoes. "Probably around midnight." "You know you shouldn't stay out so late." "Ah, don't worry about it Ryou. It's not like there's any vampires out there that's gonna get me." "No, I didn't mean that. I mean it's a school night. We have school tomorrow." "Ryou, for once, get your head outta school. Go focus on something else." Joey opened the door. "Besides, it's still the weekend until midnight. Don't worry." Ryou smiled. Sometimes he loved how Joey took things all in stride like that. "O.k." he said giving Joey another kiss. "But could you at least tell me where you're going?" "Nope. Sorry. It's a secret." "But why?" Ryou wanted know. "Just because." "Because why?" "Because," Joey said kissing Ryou on the tip of his nose. "I said and it's none of your business."

**End Flashback.**

Ryou gasped. "Is that why Joey wouldn't tell me where he was going?" Ryou asked his reflection. "Because he was cheating on me?" Ryou wadded up the tissue and tossed it into the garbage. Hurt slowly turning into anger. "Is that were he went? To be with Brittany?" _'...it's none of your business...'_ Joeys words echoed in his mind. Ryou went back over to his bed and sat down to think. 'What if he _has_ cheated on me with Brittany more than once? What if he's cheated on me with half the school?' Ryou grabbed a pillow and hugged it. 'Oh, Joey.' he sighed. 'Who else have you been cheating on me with?' Ryou blew his nose.

'How long have you been cheating on me? Why?' he started crying again. 'Is this my fault? Like everything else...' Ryou's mind began to wander again...

**Flashback...**

"Get up, Ryou!" Bakura had yelled at him. Ryou held his face where Bakura had hit him and knocked him down. "GET UP!" Bakura yelled again. Slowly, Ryou got to his feet. "You know what you are, Ryou?" the evil spirit of the Ring had asked him. "Ignorant!" Bakura kicked Ryou in the stomach, winding him. Ryou fell to the floor in tears, gasping for air. "You're ignorant!" Bakura hissed at him. "Ignorant! You know nothing!" Bakura had then kicked over the nightstand. "I...I'm...s..s..sorry." Ryou gasped, holding his stomach. "Look at you," Bakura sneered. "lying on the floor like that. Sniveling and holding your stomach...you're pathetic."

"I..I know." said Ryou, gasping. "You worthless piece of shi..! Get up!" Ryou had tried, but was still too winded to move. Bakura had lost his patience, not that he ever had any, picked Ryou up, and tossed him onto the bed. "No." Ryou sobbed. Bakura jumped ontop of him and held him down. "N..no, B..Bakura." he said, still gasping and holding his stomach. "Please." Bakura smirked at him. "You know what's coming, don't you, Ryou? Huh? You know," said Bakura, undoing Ryou's belt. "what I'm going to do to you?" "Nooo." Ryou begged. "Don't." Bakura laughed menacentily. "Yesss!" he hissed, yanking Ryou's pants off of him.

"No." Ryou said, trying to push Bakura off of him. Unfortunetly, he hadn't had the strength to push Bakura away. "I'm going to," Bakura had smiled, grabbing ahold of Ryous privates. "No, no..." Ryou sobbed, shaking. "Bakura, please, I beg you..." "Your begging is pathetic..." Bakura had said, smacking Ryou hard across his face and leaving his hand print. "Ow!" Ryou cried, grabbing his face. "Now be quiet!" Bakura positioned himself between Ryou's legs and undid his zipper. "You know why I do this to you, Ryou?" he had asked, holding Ryou's arms down. "Wh..why?" Ryou managed to squeak out.

"Because," Bakura had laughed. "you are weak. By not being strong enough to stop me, you are practically _asking_ me to rape you. It's your own fault for not taking better care of your body. If you did, I wouldn't be able to do this to you...over and over again." "STOP IT!" Ryou yelled. "It's the truth, Ryou," Bakura had smirked at him. "you _want_ me to rape you. That's why you stay weak. You have no one else to blame for this besides yourself..." "NO!" Ryou yelled at the spirit. "This _isn't_ my fault! I didn't _ask_ you to do this to me! You _chose_ to do it on your _own_ because _you're_ cruel! It's not _my_ fault! It's _yours_!" Bakura had gripped Ryou's arms tightly.

So tightly, that Ryou had been sure they'd fall off. Bakura glared at him, anger seething. "What did you say?" he asked Ryou calmly, through clenched teeth. They had been nose to nose. "Uh, ah, uh, I...I.." Ryou stuttered. "You're going to _regret_ that, _host_." Bakura had snarled, slugging Ryou in the stomach again so hard that Ryou thought for sure he was going to throw up. Ryou had doubled over in pain. But Bakura hadn't cared. He pushed into Ryou violently and started shaking him. "IT'S YOUR FAULT RYOU!" Bakura had screamed at him.

"EVERYTHINGS YOUR FAULT! NOW SAY IT!" "I..it's...it's..." Ryou had tried to stay between gasping and trying to stay conscious. Finally, Bakura had stopped shaking him. "It's, it's my fault." Ryou said exhaustedly. "What is?" Bakura snapped. "Ev...every...everything." Ryou gasped. "Good." Bakura had smiled. "Now, say it again, and keep saying it until I tell you otherwise..." "It's...it's...m..m..my...fau...fault." Ryou stuttered, tears streaming down his face... "Everythings, my fault."

**End Flashback.**

"NO!" Ryou cried, jumping up off the bed and tossing the pillow down onto it, fists clenched. "Bakura raping me _was_ _not_ my fault. Yugi and Yami both said so. Bakura was just being a jerk like he always was." Ryou unclenched his fists, dried his eyes on his shirt, and walked over to the closet he and Joey shared. "No." he murmered, tears still pouring down his rosey pink cheeks. "What Bakura did to me _was not_ my fault," Ryou reach into the closet and pulled out a huge blue and purple suitcase that had a green and gold letter "J" stamped in the middle of it. "and Joey cheating on me _isn't_ my fault either!"

Ryou yanked the suitcase over to the bed, which was somewhat difficult for him to do, seeing as how it was half his size, and tossed it onto the bed. "No," he said, through clenched teeth, "I did nothing wrong to deserve this. None of this is my fault, it's all Joey's. There was no reason for him to cheat on me." . Ryou went over to the dresser and came back with a handful of Joeys clothes. "No reason at all!" he yelled, slamming the clothes down into the suitcase. "Just because of some STUPID FIGHT!" Ryou screamed, kicking the nightstand, unable to control the anger that had welled up inside him. "STUPID, STUPID, FIGHT!" he screamed, kicking the nightstand again, only this time knocking the lamp over onto the floor where it landed with a loud _CRASH!_ Joey's lamp.

Ryou glared down at the shattered navy blue lamp. 'Joeys lamp.' he thought, raising his foot. "I HATE YOU JOEY!" he yelled, bringing his foot down with a loud _crunch!_ "I HATE YOU!" And with that, he began stomping it.

**Meanwhile, out on the streets... **

Joey grabbed his things and ran out of the classroom quickly. He _had_ to find Ryou and make sure that he hadn't seen him with Brittany in the library. Although Joey had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had. 'Damn it!' Joey thought. 'If Ryou seen me with Brittany he's going to kick me out, and then I'll have nowhere to go.' After Yami had made Bakura leave town, Joey had decided to ask Ryou if he could move in with him. That way, Joey's dad wouldn't be able to beat up on him anymore, and Ryou'd have some good company for a change, and hopefully, wouldn't feel so lonely anymore. That, and Joey had wanted to be close to his object of lust. 

**Flashback:**

"Sure, Joey." Ryou had said, smiling, his brilliant green eyes twinkling in the sunlight. "I'd be happy to have you move in with me." "You would?" Joey had asked excitedly, grabbing Ryou around his waist and twirling him. "Uh, uh, yeah, Joey." Ryou had said, holding his head after Joey had stopped twirling him. "So long as you don't make me dizzy." "Gee, thanks Ryou!" Joey exclaimed excitedly, kissing Ryou on his soft, puffy cheek. "You won't regret it." "I... hope not..." Ryou had said, whiping off his face where Joey had just kissed him. Joey had then ran off down the street back to his appartment to get his things.

Joey had pushed opened the door cautiously and called for his dad. "Dad, are you home?" But all was quiet. So Joey had slipped into his room and started packing. "Man, this is great!" Joey told himself. "I get to move away from dad, someone I have no respect for, and I get to move in with someone I totally love. Sort of." Joey stuffed some clothes into a suitcase. "I mean, I do have some feelings for cute little Ryou, the way his hair fluffs up when ya touch it just right, but right now, I mostly need a place to stay." Joey finished stuffing the suitcase he had out in front of him, zipped it up, and pulled out another.

"And if I ever screw up, I'll just lay on the charm and make Ryou feel guilty for even thinkin' of trying to kick me out." An hour and a half later, Joey had finished packing. But then, his dad had come home drunk and roughed him when he told him he was moving out. _Smash!_ A bottle had hit Joey in the head, hard, and shattered. "Ow! DAD!" Joey had said, grabbing his head, "Cut it out. That hurt." But his dad, being the alcoholic that he was, didn't care and continued roughing up on him...

**End Flashback.**

'Oh, no,' Joey thought, as he raced around a corner. 'Ryou ain't gonna kick _me_ out and make me go back to _that_! I'm _never_ goin' back to _that_!' "Hey!" a guy yelled at him. Joey stopped, panting, and looked behind him. "John's Bakery's having a special today. Would you-" "Huh?" Joey blinked. "I don't have time for this! I've got somebody I've gotta find right now. Uh, later!" Joey ran down the streets as fast as he could. Now where did Yugi say he thought Ryou went? 'I guess he went home.' Yugi's voiced echoed in Joey's mind. "That's it! Home!" Joey could've smacked himself. "Of course, that's where the little mutant went! Where else would he have gone?" 

Then Joey answered his own question. "Oh, yeah, if something had been bothering him, as was so often the case when Bakura lived with him, he'd of run to me. Dispite the fact that I lived with an alcoholic. He's always done that. Well, up until I moved in with him anyway." Joey panted hard, sweat dripping of his forehead, as he ran around another corner. Just another block or two, and he'd be home. _Scrreeeeech_... Joey heard suddenly. "Hello," a familiar male voice greated him. "And just where are we off to in such a hurry?" Joey stopped running and looked up into the pale blue eyes of Marik Ishtar. "Marik!" Joey exclaimed, practicly out of breath.

"Hello," Marik said again, smiling, bike helmet in hand. "are you o.k? You looked like you're going to faint." "I'm not going to faint, Marik." Joey told him. "I'm just a little exhausted from all this running. You wouldn't happen to have any water on ya, would ya?" Marik frowned. The truth was that he did have some Evian water with him., it was in his side car. But he had heard drinking water immediately after having been running for awhile was dangerous, for some reason, and he couldn't take the chance of something bad happening to his little blond cream puff. "Sorry." he lied. "Uh, that's o.k." Joey groaned, rubbing the small of his back.

"Well," he smiled at Marik. "I've gotta go. By the way, you look different. Did you change something?" Marik frowned at him again. "You doof!" Marik said, whacking his cream puffs sandy blond bangs. "Of course there's something different about me. Can't you guess? It's sooo obvious." Joey studied Marik for a moment. "Is it...your...shoes? Your...hair?" Marik rolled his eyes at the cream puffs guesses. "Not your shoes..." said Joey slowly. Then he snapped his fingers. "I've got it!" _'Finally!'_ Marik thought, rolling his eyes. "You changed your earrings!" "GAAHHH!" Marik exclaimed, practically falling over.

"You little loser!" he yelled, whacking Joey on the head with a piece of newspaper he had just pulled out of the garbage can. "OW!" Joey screamed, grabbing his head. "Watch it!" "It's my eyes!" Marik exclaimed. "You're _eyes_?" Joey asked, rubbing his head. "Yeah!" exclaimed Marik, shaking his head. "They're blue instead of purple." "Uh..." said Joey, taking a closer look. "Why?" Marik fluffed his pale blond bangs. "Because I wanted to try something different. Do you like?" "Uh, they look great Marik." said Joey, who at that moment felt more tired than concerned about Mariks new eyes.

Behind a bush, Yami said to Yugi, "Marik changed his eye color to blue?" Yugi looked up at Yami. "Guess so." "Hmm." said Yami, rubbing his chin with his right index finger. "Wonder what for." "Didn't you hear him?" Yugi asked. "He wanted to try something different." "Oh." said Yami. "Well, he still looks the same to me." Yugi sighed and turned his attention back to Joey and Marik...

"Listen, Marik, I've gotta go. I've gotta find Ryou." "Oh," said Marik, "so that's where you're off to in such a hurry. I was wondering..." "I think he saw me cheating on him." Marik's heart froze and he gripped his bike helmet. "What?" he gasped in alarm. "I think he saw me in the school library with Brittany." Joey told him. "Does he know about-wait. You were with a girl?" Marik asked, surprised. "Yeah." "But I thought you were gay." "I am." Joey replied. "You can't be _gay_ if you like girls. You'd have to be bi." Marik informed him. "Fine! Gay, bi, whatever!" Joey exclaimed, tossing his arms in the air.

"But I've gotta get to Ryou!" Joey started running off down the sidewalk. "Hey, Wheeler!" Marik yelled after him, twirling his helmet. "Ya want a ride? It's faster!" Joey thought about that. 'I would get there quicker...' he realized. "O.k." he said, running back over to Marik. "Let's go." Marik hid the Evian water under his seat, and Joey climbed into the side car. "Can't forget our helmets." said Marik, fastening his and handing the spare one to Joey. "Yeah, that's all I'd need is a cracked skull." Joey muttered. Marik revved the engine. "Hang on!" he yelled, and took off down the street. (I almost typed clown car. Isn't that funny?)

"Shoot!" Yugi exclaimed, snapping his fingers and jumping up from his hiding place in the bush. "Now we'll never catch up with him." Yami looked down at his little light. "You can run fast..." "Yeah, but not _that_ fast!" Yugi pouted with his hands on his hips. Yami smiled down at him. 'He's cute when he pouts.' he thought to himself. Then he spoke. "So, why don't we cheat a little bit?" he asked Yugi. "Huh?" Yugi looked at him skeptically. Cheat? Yami never cheats. He hates cheaters. "Yaaaami," Yugi asked. "what do you mean?" Yami just smiled at him. "You'll see, Yugi." Then Yugi felt his body start tingling. "Huh, huh, huh?" he asked, looking around.

Gold sparkles buzzed around him, then suddenly, everything went black. The last thing he saw, was Yami's face, and he was smiling...

**...Divider Thingy...**

**P. Q. :** Wheww! I know! That chapter was incredibly lonngggg! But hope ya enjoyed it just the same. Coming up in the next chapter... wait. What if I quit including summaries at the beginning of every chapter and just let you figure out what's going to happen on your own? Wouldn't that make the story more... enticing? Hee, hee, hee. R&R please! Thank you.

Chap 5 of "Ryku's" up.


	6. Living With Ishtar

**Part 1:  
Chapter 6: Living With Ishtar.**

**P. Q. :** Wheww! Last chap was kinda long, huh? Hope ya liked it just the same though. Anyway, this is the last chapter of "Cheaters Heart" Part one. Originally, it was going to be titled, 'Kicked To The Curb'. But then I thought, well, I like this title better. Yes, I know, it sounds like a medical condition. Which is why I liked it better. I thought it was kinda funny. I mean, it is Marik we're talking about...don't worry, Mar, I still love you...here's some cookies...

**Summary:** Oh, no! There's going to be no summary for this chapter. I want you to just read and enjoy yourself. If you wanna know what's gonna happen, you have to read. Thought I'd try it this way, just for this chapter, and see how it works out. If it doesn't, I'll go back to writing summaries. O.k.? I can tell you that Yami has a body however...and that there is some swearing, mostly from Joey... and there is a shower scene in here...somewhere...

**Disclaimer:** Never owned... K. T. '96'. 

**...Divider Thingy...**

Yugi and Yami materialized just around the corner from Ryou's house. _Squish!_ When Yugi had materialized, he had been hovering about half a foot over a mud puddle in the edge of someone's yard. Yami, however, had remained floating in mid air. "Uhhh!" groaned Yugi, looking down at the mud that had splattered all over his navy blue jeans. "Thanks a lot Yami." he said sarcastically, trying to whipe the mud off without success. "Sorry, Yugi." Yami said, looking down at him. "Are you alright?" Yami floated down and offered Yugi his hand. "Yeah," said Yugi, reaching up, taking it. "No thanks to you. Next time you decide to cheat, leave me out of it."

Yami smiled at his light, glad that he was o.k. "All right, Yugi." he said, taking a few steps away from him. "Here, let me fix that for you." It was the least he could do, since Yugi's muddy jeans _were_ his fault. Yami pointed a finger at Yugi's muddy jeans and said, "_MUD! DISPERSE!_" Then all of a sudden, the mud on Yugi's jeans dried up, cracked into billions of pieces, and disappeared into nothingness. "There, Yugi," Yami smiled happily, hugging his light. "all better." Yugi pulled away from him. "All right, Yami, you don't have to go about acting like my mother." "Your mother?" Yami gasped, jumping back.

"But-but Yugi," Yami said seriously, suddenly grabbing the small boy and craddling him. "it's so much fun!" Then Yami started kissing Yugi all over his cute, puffy, little face the way a mother would. "Yami," said Yugi, trying to squirm away. "cut it out!" But Yami continued kissing Yugi until he started giggling. "You'll never escape my wrath of kisses!" declared Yami, as he got nose to nose with Yugi. "Oh, no?" asked Yugi, just daring Yami. "No." Yami said seriously, gazing into the violet eyes of his young lover with his own fushia colored ones. For a moment, Yugi was hypnotized by those eyes, those beautiful fushia eyes that were his yami's.

_'My Yami.'_ Yugi thought, never taking his eyes off of his yamis's. But that one moment was all Yami needed. He grabbed Yugi around his waist, and pulled him into a deep passion kiss. "Mmm." said Yugi, throwing his arm around his yamis neck and pulling him closer as he felt Yami's tongue enter his mouth. _'Yes!'_ Yami thought, as he flicked Yugi's tongue with his own. _'My plan worked! I win!'_ "Hmm?" said Yugi, pulling away. "Something wrong, Yugi?" he asked. "No." said Yugi simply, letting go of Yami and walking away. "Um, Yugi..." said Yami feeling slightly confussed. Yugi stopped a few feet away from Yami and turned around. "Yes, Yami?" he asked quietly, calmly.

'Somethings not right here..' Yami though, staring at Yugi. 'I wonder..could he be up to something?' Outloud he said, "Are you o.k., Yugi?" Yugi looked up at his yami and smiled. "Your plan worked, huh?" "Uh-oh." said Yami, taking a step back. 'He knows! He heard my thoughts!' "You thought you won, did you?" "Uhm, uh, I.." stuttered Yami, taking another step back. "You see, I.." But it was to late. Yugi charged and tackled Yami to the ground. "Ahhh!" Yami cried, as he fell. "Ha!" Yugi exclaimed, sitting on Yamis stomach, holding his shoulders. "I've won and you lost! Admit it!" Yami blinked at Yugi in surprise.

"Go on Yami, admit it! _I_ won, and _you_ lost!" Yami looked up at Yugi. 'He's playing with me.' Yami realized. 'Well, two can play this game.' Yami smirked. "Alright Yugi," he said, sitting up. "I'll admit..." Suddenly, Yugi found himself on the ground with Yami on top of him. "..that I won and you lost!" "Uh! YAMI!" "Gotchya, Yugi." "No fair! You're bigger than me!" "True, Yugi. But just because your opponent is bigger than you doesn't mean they can't be beaten." Then Yami got off Yugi and helped him up. "I didn't hurt you, I hope?" Yami asked concerned. "No, Yami," said Yugi, dusting himself off. "I'm fine."

Yami sighed a sigh of relief. "Good, Yugi. Because if I ever did, I-" "Shh." Yugi shushed him. "I think I hear something." Yugi peeked around a tree. It was Joey and Marik riding up on the motorcycle. "-wouldn't be able to live with myself." Yami finished to the air. "Hm? Did you say something Yami?" "Uh, no Yugi. Nothing." "Oh." said Yugi, turning his attention back to the blond due that was fast approaching Ryou's house. Yami walked over and stood behind him.

"O.k., Wheeler," said Marik, parking his motorcycle by the sidewalk. "we're here." "Yeah, thanks." said Joey, hoping out of the side car, and tossing his helmet to Marik. "You can go now." "Nah." said Marik, twirling both helmets on his index fingers. "I'll just wait here. If Ryou's as mad at you as you think he is, you might need someone to talk to afterwards." "UHHH! Fine!" Joey yelled, running up the walk way. "I don't have time to argue with him, anyway." Joey ran up the steps, in the door, and started going up the stairs two at a time. "RYOUU!"

**Meanwhile**, Ryou had packed 3 of Joey's suitcases and was busily working on a forth when he heard loud thumping coming up the stairs, followed by a loud, "RYYOUUUU!" "UH! It's Joey!" he gasped. Ryou dropped what he was holding, raced over to the door, and locked it. And just in time. "RYOU!" Joey yelled, slugging the door with his fist. Ryou backed away, glad that he wasn't the door. "Ryou! I wanna talk to ya! Open the door!" Ryou was silent. "Damn it, Ryou! I'm not gonna hurt ya! Just open the door!" "N-no!" came a small voice from the other side. "I don't want to talk to you right now!" Ryou could hear Joey grrr'ing on the other side of the door.

"Well, I wanna talk to you!" "Go away!" Ryou shouted, and went back to packing the fourth suitcase. "Look, Ryou! I wanna know what you're so mad at me for!" "I think you already know the answer to that!" Ryou hollered back. "No," said Joey, playing ignorant. "I don't. Why don't you open the door and tell me?" "If I open the door," said Ryou, trying to sound tough while whiping away the tears that flowed down his pink cheeks. "I'm going to hit you!" "Ryou!" Joey exclaimed. "It's not like you to talk like that!" "Well, maybe I'm not me! Maybe I'm Bakura and if I open the door I'm gonna kill you!"

"Shit." Joey mumbled under his breath, grabbing ahold of the door handle. "RYOU! LET ME IN!" "NO!" "Errrr! That's it!" Joey kicked the door with his foot, and Ryou jumped. "If you won't let me in, then I'll bust the door down and come in that way!" 'Uh-oh,' Ryou thought, panicing. 'Joey can do it to, because he's got the strength. I'd better hide.' Ryou left the suitcase half packed and hid under the bed. Not the most _original_ place to hid, but hopefully it would do. Joeys foot slammed against the door again and Ryou jumped, almost hitting his head on the underneath part of the bed. A few more kicks, and Joey was in. He scanned the room quickly, looking for Ryou.

He didn't see him, but he did see the suitcases. "ERRGGG! RYOU! You don't have to kick me out! I can explain what you saw! She came on to me! Going to the library to make out was all her idea, not mine!" Ryou resisted the urge to yell out, "You didn't have to go along with it!" "None of this is my fault! It's all hers! She's a tramp! She's a who--! She's the one that started it! She's the one you should be angry at! Not me! I didn't do anything wrong!" 'No,' thought Ryou, holding his arms over his head to try to drown out Joeys yelling. 'you were just screwing her on top of a table in the school libray.'

Then Joey happened to look down and see his navy blue lamp all smashed to bits on the floor and a dirty footprint overtop of it. "Damn it, Ryou!" Joey yelled, kicking the bed. "You didn't have to smash my lamp! How dare you touch my stuff! How dare you!" Without thinking, Joey snatched the suitcase off the bed and tossed it against a wall. Ryou let out a startled gasp. 'So _that's_ where you're hiding!' Joey thought, bending down and reaching under the bed. Ryou scooted away, but not far enough. Joey managed to grab him by the shirt collar and pull him out. "J-J-Joey," Ryou pleaded, lip quivering. "p-p-please! Calm down. You don't know what you're doing."

"First you blame me for what happened in the library, then you try to kick me out, then you _purposely_ break my favorite lamp, and _now_ you have the guts to tell me, _I_ don't know what _I'm_ doing?" "Joey, you don't know what you're saying-" "Now I don't know what I'm saying either?" Joey yelled at Ryou, shoving him against the wall. "Joey, please!" Joey bent down, grabbed a piece of the broken lamp, then pinned Ryou against the wall. "Ahh! Joey!" he cried, feeling Joeys body push against him. Joey grabbed Ryou's left arm and held it out. "How dare you, Ryou!" he screamed, pushing the piece of lamp into Ryou's soft, tender flesh, cutting him.

"JOEY!" Ryou cried out in pain. "STOP!" "HOW DARE YOU!" Joey yelled again, still cutting Ryou's arm. "STOP!" Ryou yelled. Joey tossed the piece of lamp to the floor, then grabbed Ryou around the neck and prepared to punch him. Joey drew back his fist. "J-Joey!" Ryou squeaked, trying to losen the grip Joey had on his neck. "Y-you promised!" "Huh?" Joey asked angrily. "YOU PROMISED!" Ryou yelled. "YOU PROMISED!" Joey blinked at him...

**Flashback...**

"Joey, I'm very honored that you want me for a boyfriend, but..." "You're not gay?" Joey had asked worriedly. "Uh, no. It's not that. It's, uh.." "What?" Joey had wanted to know. Ryou bit his lower lip and looked away. "Uhm, it's just that..." Ryou began. "Yeah?" "I can't." "Why not?" Joey asked sadly. Ryou looked at him and sighed. "Because..." "It's because of _him_ isn't it? It's because of Bakura?" Ryou nodded. "I just don't want to get hurt Joey. I've been through enough. Losing part of my family, father never being there for me when I need him, Bakura showing up and taking all my friends away by trapping them in dolls and letting me get the blame for it. Then his beatings and-and-"

"And what?" Joey had asked. Ryou sighed again. "His raping sessions." He said, looking down at his feet. "His what?" Joey had gasped, alarmed. "Oh, Ryou, I-I'm sorry. I had no idea." Joey petted Ryou's face gently. "I know. I asked Yugi not to say anything, but he was so concerned about me, that he told Yami and he delt with Bakura. He made him leave town." "So that's why Bakura hasn't been around lately. I wondered why your face hasn't been black'n'blue in a while." Joey had then put his hands on Ryou's shoulders. "Ryou," he said seriously. "I promise, if you let me be your boyfriend, I'll never physically hurt ya, and I'll never sexually hurt ya either."

Ryou pulled away from him. "Thanks, Joey. That's nice of you to say. But my answer's still no." Ryou turned and started walking away. "Hey, Ryou," said Joey, grabbing Ryou's hand. "I mean it. You let me be your boyfriend, and I'll never physically or sexually abuse you." Ryou sighed, shaking his head. "No, Joey." he said, pulling his hand out of Joeys, and walking away. "My answer is no." Joey had watched Ryou walking away for a good 20 seconds before running ahead of him and stopping right in his direct path. "Ryou, I promise!" Joey exclaimed, grabbing the smaller boys shoulders. "I promise I'll never physically or sexually abuse you. I won't force ya to do anything you're uncomfortable with! Don't you understand that?

"Please, Ryou." Joey had said pleadingly. Ryou looked up into Joeys soft brown eyes and studied them. "Do you _really_ mean that Joey? Do you _really_ promise?" he asked softly. "YES!" Joey had yelled sharper than he had intended on. "Sorry." he appologized. "Yes, Ryou. I really, really promise. I'll never treat you the way _he_ did." "Honestly?" "Honestly." Ryou had then smiled at Joey and wrapped his arms around Joey. "Thank you." he whispered in Joey's ear. Ryou had then stood on his tippy toes, and kissed Joey tenderly on the lips...

**End flashback.**

'No.' Joey thought, lowering his fist and letting go of Ryous neck. 'I promised.' Joey turned his back to Ryou, who was rubbing his neck, gasping. "Fine," he said, grabbing two of the four suitcases of his that Ryou had packed. "I'm outta here." Joey went out to the stairs and tossed the two suitcases down. "Who wants to live here with a cry baby like you anyway?" he grumbled, picking up the spilt contents of the fourth suitcase. "I don't. No wonder Bakura used to beat ya." "Joey," Ryou gasped, holding his bleeding arm, as he sank to the floor. "Save it, Ryou. I don't wanna talk to you." Joey snapped the fourth suitcase shut, grabbed the remaining suitcase, marched downstairs, and headed out the door.

"So," said Marik, still playing with his bike helmet. "ready to go?" "Go where?" Joey demanded. "Don't take that tone of voice with me, mister. Or I won't offer you a place to stay." Just then, Yugi and Yami came running over. "Joey!" exclaimed Yugi. "What' going on?" "Nothing." Joey snapped at him. "I'm taking him home with me." Marik announced happily. "What about Ryou?" Yami asked. "I'm not taking _him_ home with me." said Marik, twirling his helmet again. "At least not at the same time as Wheeler." "No, Marik," said Yami, shaking his head. "I _mean_, what about Ryou?" "Who cares about Ryou?" Joey snapped. "You should." said Yami sharply. "He _is_ your boyfriend."

"Not anymore." replied Joey. "What do you mean?" Yugi asked, his eyes wide. "Just what I said. It's over between Ryou and me. I'm outta here." Marik helped Joey fasten his luggage to the motorcycle. Then Joey climbed into the sidecar. "Ready to go, my little cream puff?" Marik asked, fastening his helmet. "Yeah, I'm ready." said Joey, putting on his helmet. "Cream puff?" Yami asked, giving Yugi a look. "Ah, damn it Marik! What'd I tell you about calling me cream puff?" "Uh," said Marik, scratching his chin. "never call you that in front of others?" "DUH!" Joey exclaimed. Yami walked around and stood in front of the motorcycle.

"You cheated on Ryou with Marik?" he asked, looking down at Joey. "No." Yami looked deep into Joeys eyes. "Yuge," said Joey, getting annoyed. "tell your boyfriend to knock it off before I knock him off." "Uhm, Yami-" Yugi started to say. "Liar." Yami said to Joey. "You have so cheated on Ryou with Marik. In fact," said Yami, still staring into Joeys eyes. "you've cheated lot's of times... and not with just Marik." "That's it!" yelled Joey, jumping out of the sidecar. "Sit back down!" Marik commanded. "Yami," Yugi said, rushing over to him and taking his hand. "Come on. Let's forget about Joey and go check on Ryou."

Joey stood nose to nose with Yami. Well, almost. Yami was actually a foot smaller than Joey and probably only weighed about eighty or ninety pounds, a hundred if he were lucky. Joey could easily take the spirit in a physical fight. "I'm not afraid of you, Joey." Yami said calmly, arms folded. "Yeah? Well, you should be!" Joey yelled at him. "Yami, come on." said Yugi, forcing Yami back into the Puzzle. _'You can deal with Joey later. First, let's check on Ryou.'_ _'Very well, Yugi. Have it your way...for now.'_ said Yami from within the Puzzle. "Uhm, bye guys." Yugi waved to Joey and Marik and ran up the walkway to Ryous house.

"Good bye." Marik smiled, waving back at him. Joey got back into the sidecar grumbling. 'Can't let him off the hook _that_ easily.' Yami thought to himself smuggly. The Puzzled glowed. But Yugi had been to busy running up the stairs to Ryou's room to notice. Outside...

"Aww, man!" Joey exclaimed, feeling something wet squish under his butt. "What?" Marik demanded, feeling annoyed. "I sat in something." Joey lifted up and looked under him. "Aw, man! Bird doo! Stupid birds!" "Well, I don't have anything to clean it with until we get home. You'll just have to make do. Ha, ha! _Doo_!" Marik laughed. "Here." he said, handing Joey the newspaper he had pulled from the trash can and whacked him with earlier. "Thanks." said Joey sarcastically, folding it under him. "O.k." Marik smiled, once Joey had his helmet fastened. "Here we go!" Marik revved his motorcylce, and they sped of down the street.

**Inside Ryou's house...**

"Ryou!" Yugi called, running up the stairs. "Are you o.k.?" Ryou, who had sunk to the floor, had pulled his knees up to his chest, folded his arms over them, and began sobbing into them. "Ryou?" Yugi asked softly, seeing the broken down door. Cautiously, he entered the bedroom. He could hear his friend crying, but couldn't see him. Yugi scanned the room carefully. Then he saw it, a lock of silvery white hair sticking up between the bed and the wall. "Ryou!" he exlaimed, rushing over to his shaken friend. Ryou looked up at him. Red streaks tinting the edges of his silvery white bangs. "Did Joey hurt your head?" Yugi asked, worriedly.

Yami came out of the Puzzle. "N-no, Yugi." Ryou sobbed. "The blood came from my arm." Yugi looked down at Ryou's arm. "What happened?" he asked. Ryou didn't really want to say with Yami there, he saw the look on his face. The look that said, _'If Joey done this, I'm going to obliterate him.'_ Looking back at Yugi, Ryou said, "Joey came home mad, and we had fight and I fell down." Then Yugi noticed the broken lamp. "You fell on a broken lamp?" Yugi asked concerned. "Yes." said Ryou, glancing at Yami, then back at Yugi. 'He's lying.' Yami thought. 'Why people chose to protect their abusers is beyond me. _I'd_ never do such a thing.'

Yugi helped Ryou stand and sit back down on the bed. "Yami, could you-" "I'm on it Yugi." said Yami, leaving to go get some wet paper towel and things to take care of Ryou's arm with. "It'll be o.k. Ryou." said Yugi, giving his friend a slight hug so as not to hurt him any more than he might already be. "Joey did this to you, didn't he?" he asked, looking Ryou's arm over. Ryou glanced back over to the door. "It's o.k. Ryou," said Yugi, with tears in his eyes. "I won't tell Yami." 'He probably already knows anyway.' Yugi thought. "He's got his fathers temper, Yugi." Ryou told him. Yugi smiled a little. "Yeah, I know." said Yugi, remembering. "Joey used to pick on me too..."

**(Yugi's) Flashback...**

"Hey, ya little dork!" Joey yelled at Yugi. "Anyone tell ya how _dopey_ ya look with that haircut?"

"Ha, ha! Swirly time you little _doof_!"

"Hey, Yugi, who dresses ya, Santa's little _elves_? Ha, ha, ha!"

"Nobody'd _ever_ want to be _your_ friend. You stink! I mean, really, don't ya _ever_ brush your teeth?"

Then on one occassion, Joey had tripped Yugi and sat on his back, holding his arms behind him...

"Joey!" Yugi cried, tears pouring out his eyes. "Please! You're hurting me! Let me up!" "Nah. Not until you pay." "For what?" Yugi asked, trying to ignore the pain that was spreading through his shoulders and his wrists. "For walkin' down my hall." "But, it's not yours." said Yugi, gritting his teeth in pain. "It-it belongs to the school." "Heh, heh, not anymore. It's my hall now, and if ya wanna walk down it, ya gotta pay."

**End flashback.**

"He used to do that to me too." Ryou remembered. "He'd twist my arms behind my back, pin me to the floor, then take all my lunch money." "Yup," said Yugi. "then he'd give it to me and make me buy him and Tristan dirty magazines." "How disgusting." said Ryou, making a face, remembering...

**Ryou's Flashback...**

Ryou had just stepped out of the classroom door, when a pair of strong hands grabbed him around the neck from behind. "Ah, uhh!" gasped Ryou, reaching up to try to remove the hands that had found their way around his neck. "Move it!" yelled a tough sounding male voice. The person holding Ryous neck pushed him down the hall into the mens room and forced him down onto the floor. Ryou only knew who it was because he had caught a glimpse of him in the mirror on his way down. It was Joey Wheeler.

Once Joey had Ryou on the floor, he let go of his neck and grabbed ahold of his arms, twisting them behind his back. "Wh-what..what do you..want?" Ryou had asked, coughing. "Your money." "B-but I need my money." "Yeah, well so do I. Now hand it over." "I-I can't!" "Why can't ya?" Joey demanded. "Because you're holding my wrists!" "Oh, yeah. Well, tell me where it is and I'll get it myself." "But I need it." "Look, new kid. Either I get your money, or I get your life, then your money. The choice is up to you. What's it gonna be?" "It's in my back right pants pocket." "How much?" "Five dollars." "Five dollars? That's it?" Joey asked, angrily, squeezing Ryou's wrists.

"I'm not allowed very much allowance." Ryou said, through gritted teeth. "Fine." said Joey, taking the money and getting up. "It'll do. I'll just make Tristan put in the other five. Later. Have a nice day." Joey then blew Ryou a kiss and exited the bathroom.

**End Flashback.**

"After I got out of the bathroom and back out into the hall, I saw Joey giving you my money. You didn't look very happy." "I wasn't." said Yugi. "I _hated_ buying him those magazines and him _bullying_ me all the time." Yugi looked down at his feet. "I guess he learnt to be that way because of his father." "It's odd, isn't it Yugi, how the three of us somehow became friends?" Ryou asked, managing a smile. "Yeah," said Yugi, "and odder still how you and Joey ended up together considering niether of you started out gay." "Yeah," Ryou chuckled softly. "it is odd isn't it? Although after today, I'm beginning to think Joey and I dating wasn't such a good idea."

"Yeah," Yugi half smiled, glancing at the broken down door, "tell me about it." Just then, Yami came through the door carrying wet paper towel, peroxide, and band-aids. "Careful, Ya-" Yugi started to say. But it was too late. Yami had already tripped over a piece of broken wood. Luckily, he caught himself before he fell. "Stupid door!" he snapped, walking over to Ryou and kneeling in front of him. "Remind me to hurt Joey for that later." Ryou looked at him, but said nothing. "Are you o.k. Yami?" Yugi asked. "Yes, Yugi. I'm fine." said Yami, setting the peroxide and band-aids down beside him. Then he turned to Ryou and said, "Hold out your arm, Ryou."

Ryou did and Yami cleaned off the dried blood with the wet paper towel, then dried his arm and peroxided his cuts. Then he reach for the band-aids. "Just a minute, Yami." said Yugi, hoping down off the bed. "You forgot the vaseline." Yugi ran out of the room to the bathroom. 'My _friends_ take such good care of me.' Ryou smiled after Yugi. 'For that, I'm thankful.' But then his smile turned to a frown. 'Joey.' he thought, and then the tears he thought had gone away came back and began rolling down his cheeks. "Ryou," Yami said softly, "are you o.k.? You're not hurt else where are you?" 'Just my heart.' Ryou thought, leaning into Yami's shoulder sobbing. 

"Oh, Yami," he sobbed. "he...oh..." Yami stood and wrapped his arms protectively around Ryou, just the way he would do for his light, his love, if someone had hurt him. "It'll be o.k. Ryou. It will." he said, reassuringly, his fushia colored eyes clouding over with tears. Yugi came back to see Yami holding Ryou protectively. "Yep," Yugi said to himself. "I have a good one." He walked over to Yami and said, "Here, Yami. I have the vasaline." Yami took Ryous arm, put the vasaline gently on his cuts with his finger, and then applied the bandages. Luckily, Ryou's injuries hadn't been serious. 'Luckily, for Joey.' Yami thought, hugging Ryou. 'Or I would've obliterated him.'

Then he glanced at Yugi, who had taken a sit next to Ryou and was now hugging him as well. 'Well, maybe.' he thought. 'Yugi hasn't let me obliterate anybody since Duelist Kingdom.' A few minutes later, Ryou finally stopped hugging Yami. "Uhm, guys, I appreciate you being here for me, really," said Ryou, whiping away some tears. "But, I'd like to be alone for a little while now, if you don't mind." "Are you sure, Ryou?" Yami asked, holding his shoulders gently. "Yeah." said Yugi, "Do you really want to be alone right now?" "Yeah," said Ryou. "please?" Yugi looked at Yami. _'What do you think, Yami?'_ Yugi asked through the link. 

_'Hmmm. I think it'll be o.k. for now, Yugi._' Yami replied through the link._ 'Besides, we won't go far away, just in case.'_ "O.k. Ryou." said Yugi, standing up. "Is it o.k. if we just hang out in the kitchen for awhile?" Ryou whiped away a tear. "Yeah, Yugi. That'd be fine. Thank you." "O.k." said Yugi, giving his friend a gentle hug. "Holler if you need anything." "I will," said Ryou hugging his friend back. "thank you." "Come on, Yugi." Yami said, taking his hand and leading him to the door. Yugi looked back at Ryou. 'It'll be o.k. Ryou.' Yugi thought. 'Really.' Yami lifted Yugi over the broken down door and put him back down once they were back out in the hallway.

"He'll be o.k., right Yami?" Yugi asked worriedly, his eyes big and flowing with tears. Yami smiled slightly and looked down at his light. He was so considerate of others feelings. Which was why Yami loved him so much. "Yeah, Yugi." he said, trying to sound reassuring, although he wasn't entirely sure himself. 'Ryou's been through a lot.' Yami thought to himself, as he followed Yugi down the stairs. 'He's lost his family, been abused by Bakura both physically and sexually, and now, he's lost the one person that he truely loves.' Yami sighed. 'It took him forever to heal after all the pain Bakura caused him and I was beginning to think that he'd never be o.k.

'All he wanted to do was mope about and sob. But somehow, he got through it, and up until now, was doing o.k. Now he has to deal with his breakup with Joey.' Yami frowned and sighed again as he stepped down onto the floor. 'Every time we think he's going to be o.k, something happens. I'm beginning to wonder how much more he's going to go through; how much more pain before he's no longer going to be _o.k._?' Yami followed Yugi into the kitchen, who had decided to help himself to some orange juice. "You want a glass, Yami?" Yugi asked, reaching for the glasses.

"What?" Yami asked distractedly, taking a seat at the little kitchen table. "I asked if you wanted a glass." said Yugi. "Oh, sure. Of what?" Yami asked. "Orange juice." said Yugi. "Oh, o.k. Thank you, Yugi." "You're welcome, Yami." said Yugi, pouring the juice into a glass and handing it to Yami. Then he poured one for himself, put the juice away, and took a seat at the table across from Yami. "Poor Ryou." Yugi said sadly, watching the juice bob up and down in his glass. "He's been through so much. Now he has to deal with him and Joey breaking up." "I know, Yugi," said Yami, eyeing his little love. "I was just thinking the same thing."

"He must've seen Joey cheating on him. Why else would he have gone home crying and packed Joeys bags?" "It does make sense, Yugi." "Poor Ryou." said Yugi looking at the floor. "It must've really hurt him to see the person that he loved with someone else like that. Poor Ryou!" Yugi's lower lip started twitching and Yami could see tears starting to form in his lights eyes. Yami scooted back his chair, got up, and went over to his light. "Yugi," he said, putting his hands on Yugi's shoulders. "Ryou will be alright. He's been through a lot and has always come through o.k. We have to believe that he will get through this too. Although it will take time."

Yugi looked up at Yami with big, sad, violet eyes. "You really think so?" he asked his dark side. Yami smiled, "Of course, I do Yugi. Besides, he has you and I for friends now. So why wouldn't he be?" Yugi jumped up out his chair and tossed his arms around Yami. He loved how Yami could always stay so positive about things, even when things weren't going all that great. "I love you Yami!" he exclaimed, tightening his grip around Yami's waist so much that Yami was sure Yugi'd squeeze the air out of him, if he were human and needed to breath.

"I love you too, Yugi." Yami replied, returning the bearhug. "Which is why _I promise_ you, that you'll _never_ catch me cheating on you. I love you and I'd _never_ want to hurt you that way. You mean too much to me." "Oh, Yami!" Yugi exclaimed, as tears streamed down his cheeks. "You're important to me tooooo!" _Squeeze..._ Although Yami was in his solidified (human) form, and Yugi was the one wearing the Puzzle, he could still access its power and use it for certain things. He quickly used the Puzzles power to disable his ability to breathe. _'I'm glad I'm not human anymore,'_ Yami thought to himself. _'or Yugi'd of just squeezed the life out of me! I'm surprised he can hug me so tight, considering how small he is.'_

Ryou, who had been listening in from the top of the stairs, went back into his bedroom and sat down on his bed. 'Promises... promises from someone like Yugi's Yami might mean something, but,' Ryou looked down at his arm that Joey had intentionally cut. 'promises from someone like Joey... mean nothing. Why did you start cheating on me Joey? Did I not show you how much I cared? How much I loved you?' Ryou held his bandaged arm and sighed. Tears fell from his face to the floor. 'Or did I simply not mean anything to you?' The thought of Joey possible just using him, hurt Ryou so much, that he felt like he was going to explode in agony.

If the lamp hadn't already been broken, he'd of thrown it. But since it had, he tossed himself face down onto the bed instead and cried until he no longer could. 'Monday's _suck_...' he sobbed tiredly into his pillows. 'I _hate_ Mondays.' Fifteen minutes later, Ryou was out. It had been a long, miserable Monday.

**Mariks Boat...**

A half hour later, Marik parked his motorcycle in the cargo hold area of his boat. Normally, to get to the particular cargo area he parked his bike in, one'd have to use a ladder. Not that Marik minded all that much riding his motorcycle down the ladder into the cargo hold, but he did mind having to buy new shocks frequently for doing that. Which was why he had a special door made on the side of his yellow and white boat so he could just ride up a ramp into the cargo hold area. It was much more efficient and besides, he saved a bundle on shocks that way. "O.k. Wheeler," he said, taking off his helmet and putting it away. "we're here. Why don't you go clean off your bottom now?"

"Gladly." grumbled Joey, as he climbed out of the sidecar and tossed his helmet at Marik. "Ahem." "What?" Joey asked annoyed. "Aren't you going to throw your newspaper away?" "Uhhh." Joey groaned, wadding up the newspaper and tossing it. 'Hmm.' Marik thought, as he watched Joey go out the door on the other side of the cargo hold and disappear around the corner. 'If Seto Kaiba could have seen Joey with newspaper under his butt, I'm sure he'd of made a joke about it.' Marik stood there for a moment thinking. 'Hmm. Ah! I've got it! I know what Kaiba'd of said. He'd of said: _What? Isn't the little mutt potty trained? Doesn't he know enough to beg to go outside when he has to shi-_'

"Bad Marik!" Marik scolded himself. "Bad thinking of ways Kaiba'd insult Joey if he knew he sat on newspaper. But, hmmm... I wonder what other things I could think of that Kaiba'd say..." 'Oh! I've got another!' Marik thought happily. 'He'd say: _Don't you know you're supposed to go on the ground, not the furniture Wheeler? Bad dog. Maybe Marik should've made you run next to his motorcycle on a leash..._ or maybe he'd say... _Dumb dog! If you ever messed on my furniture, I'd rub your nose in it... which wouldn't be that much of a big deal anyway, because you're already a brown nose...bad little doggie!'_

"Well, enough of that. If I think of anymore, I might accidentally say one of them outloud. Then Wheeler'd be madder than he already is." Marik said to himself, walking towards the door Joey just stepped out of a few minutes earlier. "Of course, he's the one that was caught cheating, not Ryou. So Ryou should be more angry than Joey is. Poor little kid. Maybe I should pay him a visit later. Cheer him _up_ a little..." Marik smiled at his _clever_ little plan. "..clearly he and Wheeler are broken up... so _naturally_ he'll be on the rebound...at least for a _few_ weeks. So why _not_ move in on him while I've got the chance? His heart _will_ be fragile and delicate for awhile... but as long as I'm _nice_ to him, I should get what I want..." Marik walked away happily.

He found Joey a few minutes later cursing under his breath in the shower. His clothes tossed to the side on the floor. "Hmmm.." Marik thought. 'I think Wheeler needs some...company...' Marik quickly undressed and studied himself in his mirror. 'If not for these damn tatoos father made me get, my body'd look perfect. I'd be beautiful. Oh, well. I'll do. Besides, with these new blue contacts, I look hatter than ever.' Smiling, he walked over to the shower and knocked gently on the frosted door. "Hey, Wheeler..." "Not now Marik." came the sarcastic reply. "Ohh. I know you're hurting, but I think you could use the company. May I join you? Pretty please?" asked Marik. "I wanna be alone right now."

"But you shouldn't be alone when you're sad and hurting. Besides," Marik added in a sing song voice, "I can make you feeeel betteeer!" "Oh," groaned Joey. "Alright. You can wash my back for me." "Yay! Goody!" Marik exclaimed, pulling back the door and hoping in, in front of Joey. "My, don't you look handsome with water running down your body?" said Marik, putting his arms over Joeys shoulders. "Marik, not now. I'm not in the mood." "But I am." said Marik, pulling Joeys head towards him until their lips touched. Marik ran his hands down Joeys back and hugged him. "N-no." said Joey, pulling away. "Not now." "But why?" asked Marik. "You know you want to. It'll calm you down."

"I'm too annoyed right now, Marik. Maybe later." Marik got behind Joey and started washing his back. "Are you sure?" he asked, running the sponge down the middle of Joeys back seductively. "Uh, uhm, yeah. Yeah, I'm sure." "O.k." said Marik, doing it again. "Uh! Damn it, Marik! Stop it!" "Stop what?" Marik asked innocently. "Uh, you know...what you're doin' with the sponge. Cut it out!" "O.k. In a minute though. I'm having fun." Marik continued doing the sponge trick to Joey for about five minutes, until Joey couldn't take it anymore. "Damn it, Marik!" he yelled, turning around and pinning Marik against the wall.

"Damn it." he said, brushing a wet tendril of light blond hair out of Mariks face and claiming his lips with his own. "Damn you.." said Joey. He pushed himself against Marik, and proceeded to make out with him. 'Hmm,' thought Marik happily, feeling Joey push up against him. 'I knew I'd have my way... I always do...'

**...Divider Thingy...**

O.k.! We all know who this is (Pharaoh's Queen), so let me just ask you: How was this chapter? Was it more _exciting_ and _enticing_ than the rest of the story so far? I hope so, 'cause that's what I was going for... How'd you like the shower scene ending between Joey and Marik? Two of my fave YGO men... sniff.. in the shower... sniff... Why didn't I put _myself_ into that part with one or the other... sniff... Oh, yeah, it's cause I'm _not_ in this story.. Oh, well, a girl can dream, right? So, now that you've read it, please review! And thank you! Have some doughnuts... Don't worry Joey.. there's still plenty for you, oh Great Doughnut King!

_bow, bow!_


	7. The Gunman & The Rescue

**Part 2:**

**Summary:** Oooooh! This chapter has a little bit of excitement. Hey, did you read the title? Yeah, there's a guy with a gun and he's after Ryou! But why, and does Ryou get rescued? If so, who rescues him? To find out, you must read… 

**Disclaimer:** Don't own "Yu-Gi-Oh!" Kazuki Takahashi does! Don't own "McDonalds" either! Wish I did though! I'd give free shakes (or sodas) to all my reviewers!

**Final Wolf:** Thank you for the vote of encouragement. It's reviews like yours that keep me going.  
**YDCT:** Hallo! Glad U likey the story so far! Hope ya likey this chappie too!

* * *

It was a week later when Joey finally decided that he wanted Ryou back. Now the only question was, how? After getting caught cheating by Ryou, it'd be pretty hard to convince him to take him back. But Joey just had to find a way. "Would you stop pacing already?" asked Marik, in an annoyed tone. "You're going to wear a hole in the floor and then water will come rushing in and we'll all sink." "Would you be quiet? I'm trying to think." Said Joey, hands folded behind his back, still pacing back and forth. "Oh, just stop!" Marik yelled, throwing his tanned Egyptian arms up into the air. "You're making me dizzy!" 

Joey sighed a frustrated sigh. "There has to be a way to convince Ryou to take me back. Wait a minute! I got it! I'll promise him that I'll never cheat on him again!" Marik fell over backwards on his bed laughing. "Oh, ha, ha! That's a good one!" he hooted, pointing a finger at Joey and holding his stomach with his other hand. "With your record for cheating! Ahahahaha!" "Grrrr! Shut up Marik!" Joey snapped. "Well," said Marik, sitting up, "that's not a nice way to speak to the person who's been letting you stay at his place for free. Keep acting like that, and I might have to kick you out."

Joey just groaned and continued pacing. Then he had a thought. He'd buy a dozen red roses, since nobody could resist roses, give them to Ryou at school on Monday, and then apologize to him in front of everyone. Joey pictured it all out in his mind

_Ryou would be dressed all prim and proper in his school uniform; A short sleeve white tee and navy blue dress pants complete with black dress shoes. He'd be carrying his school book's tucked under his left arm, and walking to his third hour class with a frown on his face. He'd then stop in the hallway to talk to Yugi, telling him how horrible Joey had treated him, and of course Yugi'd be comforting him. That's when Joey'd come along, get down on one knee, and present the flowers, his gift of love, to Ryou, along with an apology. Ryou would be so overcome with joy, that he'd drop his books, and jump straight into Joey's arms. _

Crystaline tears would pour out of his soft brown eyes and roll down his cheeks, as Joey cradled him in his arms. "Oh, Joey," he'd weep, trying to blink away his tears, "that was so beautiful! I love you! Of course I'll take you back! Oh, Joey!" Then Joey'd stand up, scoop Ryou up in his arms, and carry him down the hall, out of school, and all the way home until they got to their bedroom. Once there, he'd lay Ryou gently down onto their bed, pull the curtains, light all the candles he could find, and then make sweet, passionate love to his little brown eyed Ry-Ry.

"YES!" Joey exclaimed, shaking his fist and startling Marik, who had been picking at the lint in his bellybutton. "That's exactly what I'll do!" "Huh?" asked Marik distractedly. "I'll buy Ryou some roses, and give them to him in front of everybody at school on Monday. He'll be so happy and so surprised, that he won't be able to say, 'no', at least not with everybody watching. Man," said Joey, smirking proudly at his idea. "I come up with some good plans." "No!" exclaimed Marik, jumping up off his bed and dropping his bellybutton lint onto the floor. "You can't do that!" "Huh," said Joey, "why not?"

"Because," said Marik, holding Joey by his forearms, "Ryou's shy, remember? If you do that, you'll just embarrass him. Then he'll never forgive you." Joey looked down at his feet. "Oh, yeah." He said sadly. 'How could I forget how shy Ryou is,' Joey wondered, 'when he used to be my own boyfriend? Dahh! Stupid, stupid me!' "I think maybe you should let me talk to him." Said Marik, wrapping his arms around Joeys neck. "After all, he doesn't know that you and I have been together, right? So he wouldn't suspect me of taking you from him. Maybe I could get him to forgive you for cheating on him. Then later, after things calm down, you can have sex with me as a thank you."

"I knew there was a catch." Said Joey, pulling away. "Marik, the point is to apologize for cheatin', and then never cheatin' again." "I know," said Marik, "but you know that eventually you'll want to come crawling back to me because you like my screwing methods. Remember who taught you that one move?" "Yeah," Joey grumbled. "I remember." "That's why you keep coming back to me." Smiled Marik. "I keep things fresh. Just the way you like them. Ryou doesn't. He's still just a boy. You on the other hand, are a man, like me." "Well.." Joey blushed. "It's true." Said Marik. "You are a man."

"I am, aint I?" Joey smirked. He was feeling much better now. "Of, course." Grinned Marik. "If you weren't, I wouldn't screw around with you. Now, then, off I go to find little Ryou." "O.k." said Joey. "Good luck." "Thank you Wheeler." Said Marik, using his Millennium Rod to zap himself in a bubble. 'Not that I really need it.' He thought, as he floated out of a window and over Domino. "I should have no problem helping Ryou to get over his ex…" Marik told himself, thinking dirty thoughts. "…and moving on with someone else… like me."

* * *

The last bell of the day rang and Ryou couldn't wait to get out of school, go home, and just relax. It had been a terribly rough week, mainly because of his and Joeys break-up, and he was glad it was finally the weekend. He grabbed his books out of his locker, stuffed them into his backpack, slung his backpack over his shoulders, and shuffled his way down the crowded hall to the exit. 

'I wonder how Joey's doing.' He thought, as he exited the building. 'Not that he's important anymore. Not after breaking his promise to never hurt me… but still… Is he even wondering how I'm doing?' Ryou looked down at his feet and continued walking. 'Probably not. He's probably off running with Brittany somewhere. I should've known better than to hook up with the school flirt. Why'd I think he and I would make it as a couple anyway? That was so stupid of me.' Ryou stopped walking and watched the cars go by at the intersection. "Watch where you're goin' freak!" someone yelled. "No!" They yelled back. "You watch where you're going!"

Ryou sighed as the two continued yelling at each other. 'Are they ever going to stop yelling at each other?' Ryou though. 'I need to get across and they're holding up traffic.' Then Ryou saw the guy in the yellow truck pull out a gun and aim it at the person driving the blue car. He also saw the little kid in the backseat of the car. 'Oh, no!' Ryou though. 'The guy in the truck has a gun! He's going to shoot that poor woman in front of her kid! I have to stop him!' Ryou pulled off his backpack and slung it at the windshield of the truck. Then he turned to the woman in the blue car. "Duck!" Ryou yelled. "He's got a gun!"

"What the-" the guy in the yellow truck yelled as Ryous backpack hit the windshield cracking it. "Who the hell did that? You son of a… I'll get you for that!" The guy jumped out of his truck and started running over towards the blue car. Where the woman had laid protectively over her child. "Oh, I can't let him hurt that lady and her kid." Ryou said aloud to himself. "What would Joey say? Oh, yeah!" Ryou throw a rock at the guy, hitting him in the back of the head. He always was a good aim with things. "I did fart face!" he yelled at the guy. The guy turned around.

"I threw it because you're a big ugly ass!" Ryou yelled, throwing another rock at the guy, hitting him in the nose with it. "Why you white haired little rat!" The guy yelled back at him. "I'll get you for that!" "Uh-oh!" Ryou gasped. "I think I'd better run!" Ryou turned on his heels and quickly took off running down the sidewalk. "That's…the last time… I act… like Joey!" he panted. "Come on legs! Move faster!" Ryou ran as fast as he could, taking all sorts of twists and turns. Unfortunetly, he ran into a dead end alley and the guy with the gun was right behind him. "Oh, no!" he gasped, sweat dripping down his face. "I'm trapped!" Ryou turned around.

There stood the guy with the gun, eyes seething red with anger. 'Well,' Ryou though, leaning against the dirty red-brick wall that stood behind him. 'I guess this is good-bye world. No more wondering how Joey is or if he's thinking about me… No more worrying about getting good grades and graduating, no more worrying about Yami-Bakura coming back and hurting me, or others, like he used to… No more worrying about anything.' Ryou closed his eyes and slid down to the ground, curling himself up into a ball. Not that it would help things any. He was still going to get shot. 'At least,' Ryou thought, tears streaming down his face, 'I won't ever have to feel pain again… Good-by world.'

"Now you're going to get it, you punk!" Gun-Guy screamed at Ryou. "How dare you break my windshield. "How dare you meddle in my affairs!" Gun-Guy aimed the gun at Ryou and cocked it. "You're gonna pay!" "I'm sorry!" Ryou squeaked, still trying to make himself look small. Gun-Guy put his finger on the trigger and started to squeeze.

* * *

Marik floated high over Domino in his little bubble. "Wheee!" he shouted, as the cool crisp air pushed him in one direction and then another. "This is fun! It's such a shame that Wheeler's afraid of heights. He really doesn't know what he's missing out on. Hmm, hmm, hmm." Then Marik heard yelling down below. "Oh, poo!" he exclaimed, taking a bite of his jelly-filled doughnut. "Just when I was beginning to have fun…" Marik put his doughnut back in it's bag and looked down. There was a bald headed guy in a black leather jacket, carrying a gun, and chasing someone through an alley-way. 

"Hmm, I wonder.." said Marik, floating closer to get a better look. "..who is he chasing?" Marik looked in the direction the gunman was running and saw a white haired teen run right into a dead-end alley. Marik gasped. "That must be Ryou! But why is that guy chasing him? I'd better get down there." Marik landed on the sidewalk, popped his bubble, then chased after the gunman on foot. Luckily, Marik had no problem keeping up with him, since he was in good physical shape. He caught up with the gunman just in time to hear him say, "You're gonna pay!", and to hear Ryou say, "I'm sorry!".

'I can't let him kill Ryou!' Marik thought. 'I won't be able to screw him that way! I mean, I could, but that'd just be gross! Ew! Bad Marik for even having that thought! Bad!' he scolded himself. 'I must remember to punish myself for it later. But first…' Marik pulled out his Millennium Rod and aimed it at the gunman, just as he was about to pull the trigger. _"You will put that nasty gun away,"_ Marik told him through thought, "_then you will go to the police station and turn yourself in. You will cooperate fully with them and not cause anymore trouble."_  
_  
"Yes, Master Marik. I will do as you command."_ The gunman put his gun away and started walking towards the police station. 'Now then,' thought Marik, putting away his Rod, 'to worm my way into little Ryou's pants. Ha, ha! Worm!' Marik laughed at that thought and walked over to Ryou, who was still curled up into a ball sobbing, waiting to get shot. "Hey," he said softly, kneeling down, "it's o.k. now. He's gone."

Ryou looked up, still trembling from fright. "He's gone," Marik said, putting a hand on Ryou's shoulder. "I don't think he'll bother you anymore. In fact, I don't think he'll be bothering anyone for a while." Marik helped the shaking Ryou to stand up. "He, he had a gun… on me. He, he was going to.. k-k-kill me!" Ryou stuttered. "I know," said Marik, seeing his opportunity to get close to Ryou. "I know." Marik put his arms around Ryou and held him close to his chest. "But it's alright now. I'm here, and I won't let anything happen to you." Ryou wrapped his arms tightly around Marik and sobbed into him. "Thank you!" he sobbed muffledly.

"Aw, you're welcome." Marik smiled. "Tell you what, why don't we go into town and I'll buy you a drink? That'll calm you down." "Ch-chocolate milk-shake?" Ryou asked quietly. "If that's what you want." Marik replied. "O.k." Ryou said quietly. "Thank you." "While we're at it," said Marik, still hugging Ryou, "you can tell me why that guy was chasing you to begin with." "O.k." said Ryou, and the two walked back into town. 'Yep,' Marik smiled proudly to himself. 'I'll get into his pants in no time.'

A few minutes later, Marik and Ryou were sitting in McDonalds eating burgers and drinking milkshakes. "So you threw your backpack at his windshield and broke it?" Marik asked, leaning over the table. "Yep." Said Ryou taking a sip of his chocolate shake. "So that's why he was after you! Well, I don't blame him. If you broke my windshield, I'd chase after you too." "But you wouldn't shoot a woman in front of her child, would you?" Ryou asked worriedly. "No, no, no! Of course not!" exclaimed Marik, leaning back in his seat. "I know better than to behave like that! I'm not a psycho!"

"That's a relief." Said Ryou, sitting down his milkshake. "Anyway, um, what's your name again?" "Marik." Marik smiled at Ryou. "Marik, right." Said Ryou, standing up "Where have I heard that name before?" "I dunno." Marik shrugged. "Hmm, well, it'll come to me. In any case, thanks for saving me and buying the milkshake. I have to get going now, school work, ya know." "School work on a Friday? Aw, you poor thing! Why not wait and do it on Sunday?" Marik suggested. "That way you can have all weekend to party." "Because if I waited to do it on Sunday, it'd never get done." Said Ryou. "Not to mention I'd be really tired the next day…"

'Oh, brother,' thought Marik, rolling his eyes and resting his chin on his hand. 'How did Wheeler put up with this?' "…and I'd probably be late or fall asleep in class and get detention… Besides," Ryou continued, blushing and looking down at the multi-colored floor. "I'm really not much of a partier, anyway. I'm kinda shy." "You poor thing!" Marik exclaimed, jumping up and putting an arm around Ryou's shoulders. "You don't know what kind of fun you're missing out on! I'll tell you what, let's go find your backpack, take it back to your place, and I'll help you with your homework. Then I'll take you out and teach you how to party!"

"N-no. That's o.k." said Ryou, pulling away from Marik. "I think I'll be o.k. I'll just call my friend Yugi and-" "YUGI!" Marik gasped, interrupting him. "You're friends with Yugi Mutou, Duelist extrodinair?" "Uh, yes." Ryou blinked at him. 'YES!' Marik thought happily. 'Today is just getting better and better! After I get Ryou to forget all about Joey and hook up with me, I'll bend him to my will and have him steal the Millennium Puzzle for me! After all, Yugi and the Pharaoh wouldn't expect one of their best friends to steal from them! Oh, yay! I'll get to get in Ryou's pants, and get my hands on the Millennium Puzzle! YESSSS! Today has been good to me.'

"Come along, Ryou," said Marik, his blue eyes twinkling. "we have things to get done today." "B-but Marik..." "Un-uh! You're not getting out of it. I'm going to help you find your backpack, help you get your homework done, then I'm teaching you to party. You'll thank me later. Now let's go." And with that, Marik pulled Ryou out of McDonalds and down the street.

* * *

Hooray! Did you guys like this long awaited chappie? I did. I loved the idea of Marik playing with his belly-button lint! I found it very funny! Also, Marik has blue eyes instead of purple b/c he's wearing blue contact lenses. So, please R&R, thanks! 

This chappie is dedicated to my cousin, Pikachu's Shadow, who helps me out when I get stuck! Thank U cousinly!


	8. Mating Season Opens

**PART 2:**

* * *

Hello one and all! I've finally came alive enough to write this chapter! Hooray!  
This is chapter eight and the beginning of part two. I wasn't sure if I should post this part seperately from the rest of "Cheaters Heart" or not, so I put itin with Part One. However, if you think I should make it seperate from Part One,let me know and I'll repostit as a "new story" o.k.?  
**Disclaimer:** I never said I owned "Yu-Gi-Oh!" have I?  
**Caution:** There is a small yaoi sex scene towards the end of this chapter and the mentioning of butt cheeks, whose ya gotta read to find out, although you could probably guess. Also, I wrote this the best I could, considering my brain went on major standby mode until the last six or seven paragraphs. But anyway, I hope ya enjoy just the same.

* * *

A few hours later, Ryou, with the help of Marik, found his backpack. Someone had picked it up out of the street and laid it against a lamppost. It was a little dirty, but luckily, nothing was missing out of it. Ryou thanked Marik for his help and started to walk away. But Marik grabbed his arm. "Just where do you think you're going?" Marik asked, a little sharper than he had intended. "Home." Replied Ryou nervously. "Oh, yeah. That's right. You have homework and I said I'd help you get it done so we could party. O.k. Let's go home." 

Ryou looked at Marik like he was nuts. "Th-that's o.k. really. I can get my homework done on my own. Thanks anyway." Ryou said, trying to pull away from Mariks grasp. "But I just saved your scrawny little a--, I mean, your life. I think you owe me a little gratitude." "Hmm." Said Ryou, looking down at his feet. 'Maybe I do owe him a little something. After all, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be alive right now. I'd be bleeding to death all alone in that alley. I guess I am being kinda rude to the guy.' Ryou thought, sighing. 'Besides, I'm not really in the mood to stick around town after what just happened.'

"O.k. Marik, you're right. Let's go home and get my homework done. Before anything else happens." Marik let go of Ryou's arm. "Oh, goody!" he exclaimed. "You won't be sorry."

As the two of them walked off down the street, Ryou had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something else _was_ about happen. But would it be something good, or something bad? That Ryou didn't know and at this point, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. 'My boyfriend has already cheated on me and dumped me, then I was chased by a gunman and almost killed… Please don't let anything else bad happen to me.' He prayed silently to whatever higher power there might be. 'Please…'

Soon, the two of them arrived at Ryou's house. It was a two-story, medium sized yellow house that sat on the corner of 4th street and Cherry Avenue, with a medium sized white picket fence that divided it from the other houses. Ryou knew a nice little house with a white picket fence was a little cliché, but so what? That's the way he liked it. Besides, it was his house. Even though Bakura was always laying claim to it and everything inside it, including little Ryou.

Ryou briefly wondered what might've happened if Bakura and Marik were to have met. Bakura's bizarre antics with Mariks odd looks would surely be a dangerous combination and Ryou shuddered at the thought of what the two of them might come up with. 'I'm glad Bakura _doesn't_ live here anymore.' Ryou thought, opening his green tractor shaped mailbox and reaching in. 'Something tells me that if Marik met Bakura, it'd be a very bad thing.'

Ryou stuffed the pile of mail into his backpack, pulled out his key, walked up to the door and unlocked it. "O.k. Marik." He said, stepping over the threshold. "Come on… in?" Ryou looked around, but Marik was nowhere to be seen. "Marik?" Ryou asked. "Hmm. Maybe he went home." Then he heard humming. "Marik?" he asked again, stepping down off the porch and walking around out back.

There he saw Marik on his hands and knees sniffing a pink carnation. "Ah," Marik exhaled, "I just love the smell of pretty flowers." "What are doing?" Ryou asked, walking over to him. "Oh," said Marik, looking up. "I was just enjoying your pretty little flower garden. It's very lovely." 'Just like I'll be enjoying you pretty soon.' Marik thought standing up and dusting off his pant legs. "Oh, well, thank you." Said Ryou. "Uhm, anyway… I do have homework to get to… so if you don't mind…" "Say no more." Said Marik. "Let's get it taken care of so I can take you out to party."

"Uhm, yeah, sure." Said Ryou headed back towards the house. "If I'm not too tired after getting my homework done." Marik followed him into the house. "That's o.k," said Marik, "if you're too tired to go out tonight, we can always go out tomorrow night instead." "I-I guess." Said Ryou, slinging his backpack over the back of a wooden chair and tossing his books out onto the kitchen table. "Would you like a soda?" Ryou asked, poking his head into the fridge. "I've got Pepsi, R.C., and--" "What?" Marik gasped. "You don't have any wine-coolers?" "I'm not allow to bring alcoholic beverages--" Ryou began.

"What do you mean 'not allowed'?" Marik asked. "I thought this was your house." "It is. It's just that, well, my ex-boyfriends', his name is Joey, father is an alcoholic. So Joey would never let me drink anything alcoholic, or bring anything alcoholic into the house." Ryou explained. "But it's your house!" Marik exclaimed. "What right does he have telling you what you can and cannot bring into it?" "None I suppose," said Ryou, handing Marik a Pepsi and taking one for himself. "He was just looking out for me so that I didn't end up a drunk like his father."

"Well, in that case," said Marik, taking the Pepsi from Ryou and sitting down at the table. "I guess he can't be all bad. But still.. he doesn't live here anymore does he?" Marik inquired. "You did say your 'ex'." "No," said Ryou sadly, opening his History book. "he and I had a big fight on Monday and he left. I haven't seen or heard from him since. Not even at school." "You mean he left you, just like that?" Marik asked, pretending like he didn't already know the situation between Ryou and Joey. "Yep." Said Ryou, and he started jotting down notes in his notebook. "Can we change the subject please?" Ryou asked.

"Certainly." Said Marik, scooting closer to Ryou. "Why don't we talk about you?" "Why?" Ryou asked, not even bothering to look up from his book. He didn't want Marik to see the tears that were threatening to roll down his face. "I'm not very interesting. I'm just a little, insignificant book-worm." "Aww," said Marik, putting an arm around Ryou's shoulder. "that's not true. I think you're very interesting. Much more so than that Joey

character." "You do?" Ryou asked, looking up at Marik. "Why certainly! Now, dry those tears and let me give you a big hug. You've really had a rough week, haven't you, little one?" Marik asked, wrapping two strong arms around Ryou the best he could, considering they were both sitting in chairs.

Ryou tried, but he could no longer keep the tears that had built up in his soft brown eyes from spilling out. He shifted around in his chair and leaned into the hug. "He was so unfair!" Ryou sobbed. "He promised he'd never hurt me, or force me to do anything I didn't want to. Then, I caught him cheating on me at school with some red head named Brittany. Then at home, we got into a fight and he-he-" Ryou sniffled. "It's all right." Said Marik, holding Ryou close. "I'm here. Just tell Marik all about it and I'll make it all better."

Inwardly, Marik was smiling. 'It won't take long now to get into Ryou's pants. And best of all, Joey'll never know. Ha, ha, ha! This is almost too easy.' He thought, as he listened to Ryou go on about his and Joey's fight. "Anyway," Ryou sniffed. "he was going to hit me, but he changed his mind and left. And I don't know where he is… or who he's with… or even if he misses meeee!" Ryou tossed his pencil angrily on the floor. It bounced into a table leg, then disappeared under a counter. "Oh, you poor thing. Why don't we just forget about the homework and going out tonight and just call it a night instead, hmm?" asked Marik.

"O.k." Ryou sniffed, pulling out of the hug. 'I knew he'd see it my way.' Marik smiled to himself. Ryou put his things together and left them in a neat little pile on the table. "This way Marik." Ryou said, leading Marik up the stairs. "You can spend the night in the guest room if you like. The bathroom's over here and you can help yourself to some food in the kitchen if you wake up hungry in the middle of the night or something." "Thank you." Said Marik, walking over to the guestroom peeking in. "You are most considerate." "Good night, Marik. I'll be in here if you need anything."

"All right." Marik smiled. "Good night Ryou." Ryou nodded then went into his room. He had really been sleeping in the guestroom, since it had been to hard for him to sleep in his and Joey's room since the fight and the break up. But it wouldn't kill him to sleep in there for just one night, he supposed. As he made the bed, his mind wandered back to Monday and the fight. …

Flashback:

_"First, you blame me for what happened in the library, then you try to kick me out, then you purposely break my favorite lamp," Joey yelled at him, "and now you have the guts to tell me, I don't know what I'm doing?" "Joey, you don't know what you're saying-" "Now I don't know what I'm saying either?" Joey had yelled at Ryou, shoving him against the wall. "Joey, please!" Ryou had cried. Joey bent down, grabbed a piece of the broken lamp, then pinned Ryou against the wall. "Ahh! Joey!" Ryou cried, feeling Joey's body push against him._

_Joey then grabbed Ryou's left arm and held it out. "How dare you, Ryou!" he screamed, pushing the piece of broken lamp into Ryou's soft, tender flesh, cutting him. "JOEY!" Ryou cried out in pain. "STOP!" "HOW DARE YOU!" Joey yelled again, still cutting Ryou's arm. "STOP!" Ryou yelled. Joey tossed the piece of lamp to the floor, then grabbed Ryou around the neck and prepared to punch him. Joey drew back his fist. "J-Joey!" Ryou squeaked, trying to loosen the grip Joey had on his neck. "Y-you promised!" "Huh?" Joey asked angrily. "YOU PROMISED!" Ryou yelled. "YOU PROMISED!" Joey blinked at him...  
_

_Joey lowered his fist and let go of Ryou's neck. He had then turned his back to Ryou, who was rubbing his neck, gasping. "Fine," he said, grabbing two of the four suitcases of his that Ryou had packed. "I'm outta here." Joey went out to the stairs and tossed the two suitcases down. "Who wants to live here with a cry baby like you anyway?" he grumbled, picking up the spilt contents of the fourth suitcase. "I don't. No wonder Bakura used to beat ya." "Joey," Ryou gasped, holding his bleeding arm, as he sank to the floor. "Save it, Ryou. I don't wanna talk to you." Joey snapped the fourth suitcase shut, grabbed the remaining suitcase, marched downstairs, and headed out the door._

**End Flashback…**

Ryou shook his head trying to clear the memory of the fight from his mind. But the images and Joey's harsh words just kept popping up the more he tried to make them go away. 'I wish that fight had never happened,' Ryou sobbed climbing into bed. 'but it did and now, I have to deal with it. But why Joey? Why did you break your promise? Did it have something to do with Brittany? Oh, Joey. I miss you.' Ryou lay his silver colored head down on his fluffy white pillow and went to sleep.

**But in the next room...**

Marik lay on his back staring at the off white ceiling waiting for Ryou to fall asleep so he could sneak in and make his move. The plan was simple. He'd go in, then use his Millennium Rod to give Ryou a nightmare. When Ryou would wake up frightened, Marik would be there to comfort the frightened boy. To hold him and tell him everything would be all right. With any luck, he'd get to screw Ryou before morning.

Marik looked at the clock: five a.m. it read. "Yes!" Marik exclaimed in a hushed whisper doubling his fist. "It's time! Rod, give Ryou a nightmare. Make him dream about getting shot in the leg or somewhere, but not above the chest and not in the arms or hands." The Millennium Rod glowed. It was happy to serve its master.

It only took a few moments for Marik to hear the soft whimpering of the white haired boy who was twisting and turning in his bed in the next room. "Yes! It worked!" Marik exclaimed happily. He took off his shirt, popped himself a breath mint, and went across the hall to Ryou's room. Carefully, he opened the door and entered.

Once he was near the bed, he tucked the Millennium Rod safely underneath it, so Ryou wouldn't see it, and sat on the edge of the bed, gripping Ryou's shoulders carefully. "Ryou?" he whispered. "Wake up…" '_That's enough Rod_.' He thought to his Rod. The Rod stopped glowing and Ryou woke up, tears streaming down his face. "M-m-" he stuttered. "Ma-Marik! He was after me! The guy with the gun! He was chasing me and he shot me!" Ryou cried, wrapping his arms around Marik's waist and burying his face into Mariks bare chest.

Marik wrapped his strong Egyptian arms around the frightened boy, happy that his plan had worked. "Oh, Marik!" Ryou cried. "It was awful! I kept running in this dark place, but I couldn't get away! Then when I stopped to catch my breath, I couldn't move! It was like I was frozen! That's when the gunman caught up with me and shot me! It was awful!" Marik looked down at the delicate boy cradled in his arms sympathetically.

"Oh, there, there little one. I'm here. I won't let that nasty gunman get you. It's all right." Marik cooed as he petted Ryou's hair the way a mother might pet her frightened child. "I'll go get you some warm milk." Said Marik. "That'll help you get back to sleep."

Marik started getting up but Ryou pulled him back down. "What is it, little one?" Marik asked, looking at him. "No, please. I don't want to be alone right now. Please, stay with me for awhile?" Ryou asked, looking up at Marik who smiled down at him. "Oh, all right," Marik said to him, "you convinced me." "Thank you." Ryou said, brushing away a couple of tears. "Oh, you're welcome." Said Marik happily, giving him a hug.

It was then that Ryou noticed that Marik hadn't been wearing a shirt. "Marik, where's your shirt?" he asked. Marik looked down at himself. "I took it off because I got hot," Marik lied. "I guess in my hurry to get in here and wake you from your nightmare, I forgot to put it back on. OOP's. Would you like me to go put one on?" "Uh, no. That's  
o. k." Ryou said quietly, just staring at Marik's chest. "You're fine." "You know," said Marik, "it's impolite to stare." "Uhm, yes," said Ryou blushing and looking away, "I know. Sorry."

'Now to go for it.' Marik thought, positioning himself Indian style behind Ryou and wrapping his arms around Ryou's shoulders. 'What are you doing?" Ryou asked. Marik could feel Ryou's body tensing up at his touch. 'Better be careful here,' Marik thought to himself, 'if I move too super fast, I might scare him, and I can't have that.' Out loud he said, "Nothing, just giving you a hug. You really needed one." "I, um, did?" Ryou asked, feeling Marik's chest rub up against his back and momentarily wishing that he were also shirtless.

"Why, yes." Said Marik, running his hands slowly up and down Ryous' arms. "You're awfully tense. Just relax and I'll give you a very therapeutic massage." "Do I _really_ need a massage, Marik?" Ryou asked, leaning forward to give Marik a little more space to move around in. "Yes," replied Marik, "but it'd work much better if you were to remove your shirt and lie down flat on your stomach." After a moment of silence, "Okay, Marik."

Slowly, Ryou removed his shirt and tossed it to the floor. 'I wonder if I'm doing the right thing,' he thought, as he stretched out on his stomach, 'after all, I don't really know Marik all that well. I just met him. What if he decides to try something with me that I'm not ready for? What if I ask him to stop and he won't?' Ryou sighed. 'Maybe I shouldn't have let him take me into letting him stay. sigh'

"Comfy?" Marik asked, massaging Ryou's shoulders and back. "Y-yes. I'm fine." Ryou said quietly. "Good, now just relax."

**Forty-five minutes later…**

"Gee, Marik," said Ryou sitting up, "that was a great massage. You could be a masseuse." "How do you know I'm not already?" Marik smiled. "Are you?" Ryou asked, reaching for his shirt. "No," said Marik, shaking his head, "not officially anyway. I just took the home-training course to have something to do." "Oh," smiled Ryou. "that explains why you're good with your hands."

'I don't know why I was so afraid of him,' Ryou thought, 'he didn't try one thing with me while he was massaging my back.' "Well," said Marik, hopping down off the bed, "I guess I should get back to bed now. Goodnight." And with that, Marik turned towards the door, (which by now had been repaired with the help of Yugi and Yami of course), and started to leave.

"Wait." Ryou said. He wasn't sure why he didn't want Marik to leave. Maybe it was because he had grown lonely in the house all week by himself, or maybe it was because he was afraid he'd have another nightmare, but whatever the reason, he didn't feel like being left alone. "Don't go. Please?" he asked Marik.

Marik smiled coyly to himself before turning around and going back over to where Ryou sat waiting on the edge of his bed. "Aw, you don't want me to leave?" he asked, pretending to be surprised. "No," replied Ryou, who broke his gaze once he realized he had been staring at Marik's naked chest, "I want you to stay and keep me company, if it isn't too much trouble." "Why not at all," said Marik, his eyes twinkling deviously as he sat down next to Ryou, "I'd love to keep you company." "Thanks." Ryou smiled.

After a few minutes of silence that seemed to drag on forever, Ryou finally spoke. "Perhaps I could give you a massage, Marik?" he asked. "After all, you did give me one." "Hmm," said Marik, tapping his lips, "I guess that'd be all right." "O.k." Ryou smiled, getting behind Marik. Ryou very slowly, very carefully placed his hands on Marik's shoulders and began to rub. "Oooo, ah, ohhh," Marik moaned, "that feels great! A little more pressure… Oooh, yeah, right there. Ahh!" 'I wish he'd stop making those sounds,' Ryou thought, as he started massaging Marik's lower back, 'he's making me have dirty thoughts.'

'Oh, this feels so great!' Marik thought to himself, smirking. 'He has such nice little hands. Ahh. And soon, he'll be using them to massage my…' Marik paused for a moment, smiled inwardly, and giggled silently at his dirty though, '_worm_!'

However, Ryou was having thoughts of his own…

'Hmm..' he thought, leaning closer towards Marik. 'Since Joey cheated on me and broke up with me, and he hasn't tried to contact me all week, then he probably doesn't care if we get back together or not. He's probably already moved on with several other people anyway. So why shouldn't I' Ryou looked down at the light blonde haired man in front of him who had saved his life from a gunman earlier that day. 'Why shouldn't I move on with the man who saved my life?' he wondered. 'After all, I'm sure Joey wouldn't care. If he knew that is.'

Suddenly, Ryou thrust his arms around Marik's waist and began kissing his back hungrily. "Ohhh!" Marik exclaimed, surprised by Ryou's sudden action. 'Yep,' he thought, leaning into Ryou's kisses, 'he wants me.'

Ryou brought his hands up to Marik's chest, and gently began squeezing his boobs. "Ryou!" Marik gasped, but Ryou continued. Now he was kissing Marik's neck. "Do me." He whispered demandingly in Marik's ear. "Now!"

Marik wasted no time in complying with little Ryou's demand. Soon, he was on top of the brown-eyed boy moaning with pleasure. "Ma-Ma-Marik!" Ryou screamed, gripping the sides of his bed. "Oh, Ryou!" Marik exclaimed, moving faster on the white haired boy. 'He's better than I thought,' Marik thought, 'and so cute when he wrinkles up his face like that. Wheeler just kinda lays there with his eyes shut like he's daydreaming or something.'

'Gee,' Ryou thought, making slight whimpering noises, 'Joey never done me like this! Wow! Oh! Ah! It's like Marik really knows what he's doing! Joey just kinda, pushed it in and pulled it out. He didn't even seem to really enjoy himself. Even though he said he did. Of course,' Ryou moaned as Marik once again thrust into him, 'Joey did cheat on me. So when he said he was enjoying himself, what he probably meant was that he was  
enjoying having someone at home that he could just use. That jerk! I'm never taking him back! Not ever! I'm going to lay here, and enjoy myself with Marik. Even if it is just for one night.'

Ryou directed his attention back to the blonde haired Egyptian who had hot sweat beads rolling down his entire tanned body. "Oh, Ryou!" he exclaimed, releasing between Ryou's silky white legs. "MARIK!" Ryou screamed, releasing himself. "Oh, Marik." Marik finished releasing, pulled out, and lay on top of Ryou, kissing him passionately on the lips.

Ryou returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around Marik as he did so. "Hey, Marik," he said between smooches, "how about (kiss) I do (kiss) you next? Would you (kiss) like that?" "Hmm," said Marik, feeling Ryou's tongue gliding up and down his neck, "You know, I think I would." Ryou smiled and giggled in delight. "All right then," he grinned devilishly, "roll over." Marik rolled over onto his back.

"No, no," Ryou giggled, waving his hand, "I meant roll over onto your stomach." "Oh," said Marik, rolling over onto his stomach and putting his butt in the air, "you want to do it doggy style! Okay!" Ryou giggled and blushed, then positioned himself behind Marik who lay waiting in anticipation. "I'm ready when you are." He said to Ryou, who was still blushing slightly.

Ryou placed the palms of his hand on Marik's butt cheeks. He was surprised by how soft yet firm they were. He was truly impressed. Joey's were just kinda flabby and at times a bit pimply, but Marik's'… they were just right. At least Ryou thought so. Ryou leaned forward, kissed the small of Marik's back, and worked his way down.

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O.k. I'm ending it there for now. Some things are just better left to the imagination right? Heh, heh, heh... I thank all my reviewers for reviewing and (hopefully) patiently waiting for my brain to start functioning again. O.k. You know what to do. Let me know how ya liked it. Thanks. 


	9. Hard Feelings

**Memo:** Hehhhh, sorry I haven't updated in what, forever? My aunts PC keeps crashing on me and sometimes won't even let me past thestart up screen when I first turn it on. (Other times, it won't let me into my personal files! It tells me "access denied".) I really need my own, but don't have any funds currently. Grr! I hate being broke! Anyway, the next chapter will be added soon. I mean it! Look for it to be up by Monday. Responses to Reviewers are a thet end of the chapter.

**Disclaimer:** K.T. '96'. See? That's not me! Although I do own some cards… (Big smile!)

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Ryou awoke the next morning feeling slightly ashamed of himself. He and Joey had only been apart for a week, and already he was in bed with someone whom had just met. 

'Perhaps I should've waited.' Ryou thought, looking down at his blankets sadly. 'I don't think I was really ready for this, but,' he glanced over to his right where the tanned skin Egyptian was still snoozing with drool dripping out of his mouth, 'I can't take it back now. We've already… Maybe I'd better just go get breakfast started. Yes, that's what I'll do. And after breakfast, I'll explain everything to this _stranger_ and ask him to leave.'

Ryou pushed back the covers, slipped his fuzzy blue slippers onto his feet, and went downstairs to the kitchen to make breakfast.

XXXX

A few hours later… "But why? Why did I do wrong? I thought you enjoyed being with me last night." Said the sandy blond Egyptian, feeling slightly confused. "I did," said Ryou, looking down at his feet, "but I think we went too fast. After all, my boyfriend and I have only been broken up for a week and I…"

"…Still have feelings for him?" Marik finished. Ryou nodded. "But why?" Marik pouted, sticking out his lower lip. "I thought you just said you caught him cheating on you with a girl name Brittany." "I did," Ryou admitted, "but I-" "What if he cheated on you with others," Marik asked, hands on his hips, "and he does it again after you two get back together? Then what would you do Ryou? Would you still want him, still love him?"

A flood of mixed emotions flowed through Ryou's mind all at once and he started crying. "I-I don't know," he confessed, tears streaming down his soft pale cheeks, "maybe."

"Maybe!" Marik exclaimed, a little sharper than what he had intended on. "What do you mean MAYBE? You don't want that cheating loser back! He's hurt you once, he'll do it again." "I-I guess you're right," said Ryou, steadying himself with a chair, "but Marik, it hurts so much…" "I know," said Marik, walking over to him and wrapping one arm around his waist and the other around Ryous shoulders, "but it'll be okay, Ryou. You have me."

Ryou wiped away a tear and looked up at him with sad brown eyes. "I guess." He said, trying to manage a smile. "But, no offense, you aren't the same as Joey." "Of course not!" exclaimed Marik, patting Ryou on the shoulder. "I'm better! And I'll prove it if you go back upstairs."

Ryou removed Mariks arms from his body and walked over to the door. "No Marik. I don't want to, not right now. Please leave, I want to be alone for awhile. I need to think about things." "Well, fine. If that's how you want to be," said Marik, walking towards the door, "I'll just leave. It was nice screwing you."

"I'm sorry, Marik," said Ryou apologetically, "please don't be angry with me. It's just that I need some time… to think about things. I hope you understand."

"Oh, I understand," said Marik angrily, pausing in the doorway, "I give you a night of pleasure and you turn around and kick me out! You bastard!" he yelled, slapping Ryou hard across the face. "Marik!" Ryou gasped in surprise, grabbing his face where Marik had just slapped him.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," Marik continued, "behaving in such a way! Shame on you! Good bye!" And with that, Marik took off out of the house and down the street. Ryou closed the door and sat down at the kitchen table, still rubbing his face.

"Marik's right," Ryou thought sadly, "I should be ashamed of myself. All I ever do is screw up. I ruined Bakura's chances of getting the Millennium Puzzle at Duelist Kingdom, for which he'll never forgive me, I painted the scenery orange instead of green for the school play a few months ago, I done something wrong that made Joey want to cheat on me, I invite a stranger into my home and '_do_' him and I've only known him for a day… Marik's right, and Bakura's right… I'm nothing but a screw up. Why'd I think I could be anything more than that? Why?"

Ryou lowered his head down into the table and sobbed. "Why, if I'm so worthless, was I even born? Why didn't my mother just have me aborted while she had the chance? Why didn't she give me up for adoption? Maybe she should've given me and Amane both up for adoption… maybe then, my sister would still be alive… and I'd have something to live for…'

As Ryou sat there at the kitchen table, crying his eyes out, he let his mind wandered to all those years ago when he and his sister would spend all day playing tag and just be… happy.

* * *

Marik Ishtar smiled to him-self as he exited Ryou's house. 'That gullible little fool,' he smirked to himself, tossing a penny into the air and catching it, 'he's so easy to manipulate. I bet he's boo-hoo'ing his sweet little green eyes out right now out of shame and guilt… which works perfectly into my plan. If all goes well, he'll feel so guilty about having hurt my feelings by kicking me out, that he'll want to be with me again to make up for it. I'll be back in his pants in no time, and have Joey Wheeler waiting for me on the side. Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh! I can have them both!'

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So, who do you think is being the bigger jerk here, Joey or Marik? Neither of them seem to be being very nice to poor little Ryou. (I gave him a hug. He's better now. :-) Okay, now I respond to my reviewers and hope you come back again.

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**Yours1515:** Weren't you "Your Dream Come True"? -Shrug- Glad you like the story so far and hope you keep reviewing! Thanks!  
**  
BakuraxRyou: **Here's the update you (and others) have been waiting for. Hope it pleases you! Keep reviewing! Thanks!  
**  
Millennium Girl: **A new reviewer? Yay! Yes, Joey is being a bad boy! But then again, so is Marik! Tee-hee! Thanks for the review! Please come back again! No I don't work in a store! I work nowhere, that's why I'm always broke! 

**Upcoming: **Joey does something destructive and Ryou's feelings get hurt even more...


	10. Vandalized

**P.Q.: **To all who have reviewed so far, I thank you! One for R&R'ing my fic, and 2ndly, for putting up with my lack of updating! Anyway, here's chap 10. Hope ya enjoy it!

**Disclaimer**: K.T. '96'.

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"Well," Joey said urgently, running to meet Marik as he came walking up the plank onto the boat, "how'd it go? You were gone all night." 

"It went," Marik paused for a moment, thinking of how eager Ryou had been to be '_loved_' the night before, "okay." "Okay?" Joey asked excitedly. "That's it? Just '_okay_'?"

"He's not ready to take you back." Marik informed him. "He said he need some time to think about things." "Time?" Joey shouted, shaking his fists in the air. "What does he mean 'time'? He's had all week to think about 'things'! I'm goin' over there right now to see him and beg him to take me back."

"No!" Marik shouted, pushing against Joey's chest with his hands. "You can't do that!"

"Why not?" Joey wanted to know.

"Because," said Marik, "he's still pretty upset that you cheated on him. Why, he was in tears when I left. Give him some time to calm down already. I'd say, about another week."

"Another week?" Joey shouted. "He's had plenty of time already, that… I'm goin' to go see him right now! Outta my way!" Joey shoved Marik out of the way, almost causing him to lose his balance and fall down into the water below. But luckily, Marik was able to grab onto the side of the boat to keep from falling.

"Well, fine," said Marik angrily, "go ahead and see him. But I'm warning you, he isn't ready. I'll see you when you get back." "I'm not coming back." Joey told him. "We'll see about that," said Marik, regaining his footing and going up on deck, "we'll see."

"That Ryou," Joey seethed, "he'll take me back. He'd better take me back… or else…" And Joey huffed off down the street towards Ryous' house.

XXXX

When he got there an hour later, he found the house to be empty. There was no sign of Ryou anywhere. So Joey left and kept looking. He found Ryou about a half block away from his house, flirting with some girl.

"So," Joey said aloud to himself, watching them from around the corner, "that's why he doesn't wanna take me back. Well, I'll show him!" Joey turned on his heel and went back to the Ryous house.

"Oh, dear, where to begin?" Joey asked himself, eyeing the bedroom he and Ryou used to share. "Maybe," said Joey, yanking out a dresser drawer and dumping its contents onto the floor, "right here!"

Joey grabbed the other drawers and dumped them out as well. Then Joey flipped up the mattress and left it half sitting on the floor. "What else can I do? Hmm, let's see," he said, tapping his chin with his index finger, "I know!"

Joey went into the bathroom and took everything out of the medicine cabinet, tossed it all into the bathtub, and filled the tub with water. While he was waiting for the tub to fill, Joey took three rolls of toilet paper, stuffed them all into the toilet, then flushed, so that the toilet would plug up and over-flow.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh!" he laughed, sticking pieces of wet toilet paper to the bathroom mirror. "That ought to teach him a lesson for not wanting to take me back." Joey smiled happily, "Now there's just one thing left to do…" Joey found a pair of scissors and a couple pairs of Ryou's under-ware.

* * *

"All right, Cindy," said Ryou, turning around and heading in the opposite direction as Cindy, "thanks. I'll see you later." 

"No problem, Ry," she called to him, waving, "anytime." Ryou waved to the pretty, petite blond until she disappeared around a corner, then continued on his way home. 'She always makes me feel better,' Ryou thought, feeling somewhat happier than when he had left home, 'maybe I should quit being gay and start dating girls.'

A few minutes later, Ryou walked up the cobble-stoned walk to his house and found that the door had been left slightly opened. "Wha-" he gasped, not sure if he should enter or not, "I know I locked the door when I left, so why is it open?"

Cautiously, he pushed the door open and peeked inside. The house was a disaster! Everything was scattered everywhere, glass objects that had been neatly position on the fireplace mantle in the living room were shattered on the floor and all the furniture had been flipped upside down. It looked like a huricane had hit it.

"My house," he cried in alarm, rushing inside to survey the rest of the damage and forgetting about the possibility that the person(s) responsible for the mess could still be in there, "someone vandalized my house!"

After surveying the damage downstairs, Ryou checked the damage upstairs.

The toilet in the upstairs bathroom had been plugged with toilet paper, then flushed. Both the sink and the bathtub were overflowing, there was a bottle of Advil bobbing up and down in the tub, and the bathroom mirror was covered in toilet paper.

After turning off all the faucets in the bathroom, Ryou ran to his bedroom. There he found the bed half onto the floor, all the drawers had been yanked out of the dresser and tossed about the room. The closet doors had been chained shut, the bedroom windows had been broken out, so there were pieces of broken glass everywhere, and the walls and the ceiling were covered with shaving gel.

Ryou gasped and fell to his knees sobbing. "W-Who," he stuttered, trying unsuccessfully to blink away the tears that were pouring out of his sad green eyes, "could've done this to me? Who hates me enough to do this to me?"

Just then, he felt a piece of material under his fingers. Ryou picked up the material and looked at it. It was a pair of his white briefs. The words: "I hate you! You're a disgusting person!" had been cut into them.

"'I hate you! You're a disgusting person!'." Ryou felt his heart sink as he repeated the words out loud. It only took him a moment to figure out who would do such a thing. "JOEY!" he realized, drying his eyes. "Joey's the only one mad at me enough to do this! It must've been him. It had to be."

Ryou reread what had been cut into his under-ware. "It had to be Joey," he said aloud to himself, "I know it is, somehow. _Sniff_. He's right, _sniff_, I am a disgusting person. I allowed someone I barely knew to… to… touch me. What kind of person has sex with someone they barely know?"

Sighing heavily, Ryou got to his feet and went downstairs to get a mop. "A desperate one," he decided, feeling very ashamed of himself, "that's who."

XXXX

It took Ryou about three hours to get the carpeting from both the bathroom and his bedroom outside to where it could drip dry and the floors mopped up and still he had a lot of work yet to do. But it was getting late and he was getting tired.

Ryou put the mop away, ate a quick dinner, and brought up a cot from the basement. He then went upstairs to his room and returned a few moments later with a pillow and two blankets. Luckily, Joey hadn't cut them up.

Ryou made up the cot and lay down. "Maybe tomorrow," he yawned, staring up at the ceiling, "I'll ask Yugi to come over after school to help me clean this mess up." Ryou rolled over onto his left side, pulled the blankets up over his shoulders, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

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**What?** Only one person reviewed my last chapter? That's not good, is it? Maybe it's my summary. :-( 

**BakuraxRyou:** Thanks for coming back. One review is better than no review I suppose.

**P.Q.: **Poor little Ryou! Things always seem NOT to go his way, huh? Well, I have more in store for the little guy. But will he survive? I might let that depend on my reviewers. Later! Please review!


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